Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
by iamanundeadmonkey
Summary: Will, Elizabeth, Barbossa, and the crew sail to World's End. Will finds out that Elizabeth is torn between him and Jack, Jack is angry at Elizabeth, and the East India Trading Company and Davy Jones are giving chase. Is this the end of Caribbean piracy?
1. Prologue: Barbossa asks a question

A/N: Wow, I have 3 stories going now. That is just crazy…but if I don't get this out of my notebook/head/black hole by May, I'm screwed, so I figured I might as well do it. So…enjoy my version of At World's End (hopefully) and review (please!) but no flames, please, constructive criticism welcomed though!

DISCLAIMER: Stupid good-for-nothing-but-pirates mouse and crew… :(

… … …

Prologue

Elizabeth sat hunched over her untouched mug. Her body felt numb and disbelieving.

Captain Jack Sparrow was dead. Murdered, in fact. Why she had done it, even she didn't know. But she had done it. And she had kissed him; kissed Jack Sparrow, the dirty, lying, rum-soaked and charming pirate…no, not charming, never. Still, his smirking face loomed before her, hardly holding back the pain she had caused, telling her the word that sent her reeling: "Pirate."

Elizabeth felt a tear slip down her face.

"If there was anything that could be done to bring him back…Elizabeth-" Will had stood up, and was looking between her and Tia Dalma. The voodoo priestess's eyes lit up with mischief.

"Would ye do it?" she asked them all. "What…would you? Would ye sail t' da ends o' da Eart' do fetch back witty Jack…and 'im precious _Pearl_?"

There was silence for a few moments, and Elizabeth began to think that nobody had really liked Jack as much as they had said, that nobody was willing to do anything for their lost Captain. But Gibbs stepped in from the sagging porch, looking excited but nervous at the same time. He raised his mug. "Aye," he exclaimed strongly.

"Aye," Pintel said tearfully.

"Aye," Ragetti echoed. Cotton's parrot voiced its agreement.

Tia Dalma turned to Elizabeth. "Yes," she murmured, barely audible.

Will felt the powerful dark gaze turn on him, and he nodded, whispering, "Aye."

Tia Dalma smiled. "All right," she said warmly. "If you are goin' to brave da wei'd an' haunted shores at World's End…den…ye will need a Captain who knows dose waters." Still smiling her mysterious smile, she turned expectantly to the stairs.

_Thunk._

The sound of a footstep; a soft leather boot appeared.

_Thunk._

Elizabeth suddenly wondered whose boot it was. Was it Jack's? Her heart beat faster.

_Thunk._

There was the hem of a long coat.

_Thunk._

Elizabeth clutched the handle of the mug tighter.

_Thunk._

No, the coat was too tattered to be Jack's…but then, who was it?

_Thunk. Thunk. Thunk._

Elizabeth's jaw dropped.

"So tell me," Barbossa said, grinning insanely. "What's become of my ship?" He took a bite of an apple as Jack the monkey, chittering happily, leapt to his shoulder.

"It's not your ship," Elizabeth said automatically. The rasp of a sword being unsheathed drew everyone's attention to Will.

"What are you doing here?"

Barbossa frowned. "I might put the same question t' ye, whelp," he growled.

"Call me whelp one more time and you'll find out," Will snarled back. Elizabeth set down her mug and put her hand gently on his shoulder.

"Will, he's going to help us find-"

"_Him? He's_ going to help us find your beloved Jack? I don't care. I don't trust him."

"Well ye should, Mister Turner, seeing as he's the only outta the lot o' ye that's been to World's End," Tia Dalma said.

"I still don't trust him!"

"Calm yeself, William. Put away your sword and be still."

Reluctantly, Will obeyed. "I'm sure he's the only one who's been to World's End, but I don't trust him," he mumbled, sitting back in his chair.

Barbossa came down the remaining two stairs and accepted a drink in a bottle from Tia Dalma before sitting himself. "Ah, and Miss Swann! How lovely to see ye."

Elizabeth nodded stiffly.

"And?" Tia Dalma prompted, staring around the room. Gibbs gave her a confused look.

"Are ye goin' to follow my orders, or not?" Barbossa said bluntly.

The crew hesitated, but Elizabeth folded her arms. "I trust him," she said confidently. Gibbs backed her up with a vote of confidence, and Cotton's parrot gave a somewhat reluctant squawk of approval while Pintel and Ragetti nodded their assent. All attention turned to Will.

"I'll follow his orders, nothing more," Will said coldly.

Elizabeth thought his mood odd. He hadn't seen…had he? If he had…she shuddered. Hateful, nasty thought, to put it in Jack's mannerism.

"Ye can all sleep in da hut down riva," Tia Dalma said, pulling Elizabeth from her thoughts. "Ye'll get a ship in da mo'ning."

"'Ow's that?" Ragetti said. Tia Dalma cast her dark gaze on him, and he shrank back.

"Da riva people do not share dere secrets even wit' me, though I am one o' dem. I do not know."

… … …

Barbossa sat down at the small table across from Elizabeth. "We have old scores to settle, it seems," he said.

"What scores? I owe nothing to you," Elizabeth said.

The candle between them flickered as Barbossa let out a breath. "Correct me if I'm wrong, Miss Swann. Seems t' me I've saved ye quite a few times."

Elizabeth met his gaze steadily. "When was that?"

"Pirate's Code," he responded, "applies only to pirates, aye? So how was it that ye were under the protection of parlay when Bo'sun hit ye? Hmm? And would he have not drowned if I hadn't taken that dress?"

She had to admit that he was right, and she was sure that there were more instances that he hadn't mentioned. "All right. So we do. What payment do you require?" she asked.

Barbossa studied her closely. "For now," he said, "which means I will not be satisfied only with this, I want ye to answer some questions. I want ye to answer them honestly."

Elizabeth considered for a moment. "Fine."

"Good," Barbossa said, grinning his rotted grin. Then it slid off. "Why did ye kill Jack Sparrow?"

Elizabeth's head jerked up. "How did you-"

"By word of me darlin' Dalma."

"Oh." She pressed down around a stinging cut around her palm to take away some of the pain. There were a few reasons that fit the question that she could think of, but they fit there like the wrong piece in a jigsaw puzzle. So she gave the best-fitting answer she had: "I don't know."

Barbossa continued to stare with his piercing stare. "I see," he said finally.

"Now I want to ask you something," Elizabeth said.

"Fire away."

She took a deep breath. "Can I trust you?"

Barbossa slowly pushed back his chair and stood. Elizabeth followed suit. The answer he tossed over his shoulder as he walked away surprised her. "I don't know. Can ye?"

"Would it be a dangerous thing to place trust in you?" she said rephrasing the question quickly.

Barbossa stopped. Although he hadn't turned around, Elizabeth could tell he was grinning again. "Would it indeed?" he said evasively, and disappeared behind a door.

A/N: There you are, the prologue. The first few chapters will be pretty fast-paced, but it will slow down by about chapter 5 or 6 or 7. Please review…it makes me very happy :-D


	2. Will is punished

A/N: Will messes up in this chapter. Hugely. Well, at least Barbossa looks at it that way… :D so he has a little fun with Will. No, not that way… that would be creepy. Enjoy…and review! Thanks to those who did last chapter! You guys are the best!

DISCLAIMER: (because I probably forgot it last time) No, I don't own PotC. I wish I did though. Wouldn't that be cool? –daydreams-

Chapter 1 

There was a booming noise, and _The End_ was sprayed with a fine, salty mist. The bow hit another wave, lurching up and bringing more water down. Elizabeth stood and closed her eyes, allowing the sea spray to soak into her clothes and enjoying the salty smell.

"I thought you wanted to talk to me," Will said.

Elizabeth's eyes snapped open. "I did," she said.

"Get on with it, then."

"I wanted to know what's got you in such a foul mood."

"Nothing."

She raised one eyebrow. "You're like an open bloody book, Will. It's not nothing."

"Really?" Will asked in mock surprise. Then his tone hardened. "If I'm an open book, you must be the writing on the wall. I can tell there's something bothering you, _and_ I know what it is."

"Well, I'm sure you wouldn't mind telling me what's wrong, then, so we're all on the same page."

"What's wrong with me is the same thing that's bothering you, so you should know."

Elizabeth bit her tongue nervously before replying. "Are we talking about the same thing?"

"I certainly _hope_ so," Will snarled.

"Hate to break up the little lovers' quarrel," Barbossa cut in smoothly, "but I have need of Miss Swann's services."

"Of course," Will spat. "Go on."

Elizabeth cast him a sharp glance, dulled by confusion, before following Barbossa away. "What services do you have need of?" she asked with a slight touch of sarcasm.

Barbossa turned to her seriously, his arms folded. "No point beatin' around the bush, Miss Swann, so I won't," he started. "I'm not entirely sure how we're to get Jack outta there. We may have to do something I'm sure none of us want to do."

"So you mean…one of us may have to _kill_ ourselves so we can get him back?" Elizabeth said apprehensively.

"We may."

"I'll do it," she decided. "I killed him, so I may as well return the favor if the…need arises."

Barbossa shook his head. "Ye don't know what ye're saying. Tat could mean anything from slitting your own throat to throwing yerself into the kraken's mouth," he said.

"Funny, Elizabeth returned. I never thought I'd see the day when you'd be trying to convince me _not_ to kill myself. But I know exactly what I'm saying, and I intend to follow through with it if need be." Even so, fear rose in her throat when she thought of having to meet the same demise as Jack had, the kraken tearing her to pieces and devouring her.

"I have to say, Miss Swann," Barbossa admitted grudgingly, "I admire yer courage."

"Thank you," Elizabeth said uncertainly, turning away. Then she made another quick decision and looked back. "And Captain…call me Elizabeth."

… … …

Will watched the entire talk from the bow and couldn't help noticing how Elizabeth looked more and more frightened with each word Barbossa spoke. Barbossa had better not be threatening her, or he would get it.

Finally, Elizabeth turned away, the terror having reached its peak in her eyes. She went below deck and Barbossa went back to the wheel, busy wiping a slightly troubled look from his face. Will went after him, hand on the hilt of his sword. "Going to lead a mutiny all on yer own, whelp?" Barbossa said.

The whelp comment just pushed Will over the edge. He unsheathed his sword, and Barbossa looked down at it disdainfully. "What a way to greet yer Captain. How have I provoked yer anger this time?"

"First," Will growled, "I would appreciate it if you would stop calling me 'whelp'. Second, I would also appreciate it if you didn't threaten my fiancé right in front of me."

"What shall I do with you, youn Mister Turner?" Barbossa said, shaking his head. "First ye threaten me, then ye start coming out with false accusations. For your information, I was not threatening her, merely talking about things of a private nature."

Will awkwardly slid his sword into its sheath. "…Oh."

"Ye're lucky. Those barnacles probably haven't ever been scraped, otherwise I'd give ye a good keelhaulin'," Barbossa said. "Suppose we'll have t' go with the next best thing, aye? Pintel! Fetch me a nice, long rope!"

Pintel scurried away and Will gave Barbossa a nervous look. "What are you-" he started.

"I'll teach ye a little lesson about trust, shall I? Pintel, get out of my sight." Barbossa took the rope and tied it deftly around Will's wrists. He took hold of the boy's elbow and led him to the bow. There, he wound the rope around the bowsprit a few times and tied it off.

Will raised his eyebrows. "What's this going to do?"

"Just _standing_ here will do nothin'. So." Barbossa gestured to the rail. "Off ye go. Or do ye need assistance?"

"You can't-" Will started furiously.

"Oh, yes I can. I can and will. Assistance it is, then."

Much to Will's surprise, Barbossa actually picked him up and dumped him over the rail, the rope tied around his wrists nearly tearing his arms from their sockets. He immediately began kicking and thrashing in order to stay above water as the bow dipped. The water came past his neck and poured down his throat. He coughed it out, blinking at the icy cold. "How long do I have to stay here?" Will managed to choke.

"Oh, as long as it takes," Barbossa answered. Will couldn't tell whether he had walked away or not. All he was able to concentrate on was keeping his head up when the bow dipped, kicking wildly each time. After what seemed like hours, his kicking became nothing more than feeble stirrings, and soon he let himself hang limply by his wrists, occasionally coughing out a mouthful of water.

Finally, Will felt himself being pulled up out of the waves and dragged over the railing, tumbling onto the deck. He acknowledged Barbossa cutting the knot tying him to the bow and rolling him over. "Took ye long enough," the pirate said, setting about the rope on Will's wrists with a dagger.

"I can't believe you," Will whispered weakly. The ropes off, his wrists began to burn, and a few nasty names tumbled past his lips along with what seemed like half the ocean.

"Mmm, the burnin'll go away soon. Just 'cause the circulation got cut off, and ye were in the cold water so long," Barbossa explained calmly while Will shivered and rubbed at his burning wrists. "Would've been a lot easier if ye had stopped kickin' earlier."

"You m-mean," Will said in as menacing a voice as he could manage through his chattering teeth, "that if I h-had st-stopped, you w-would have l-l-let me off b-before?" 

"Yep," Barbossa said comfortably. "Didn't I tell ye I was givin' ye a lesson on trust? Ye should've known I wouldn't've let ye drown."

Will tried to stand, and collapsed to the deck again as his legs gave way. Elizabeth came up on deck and dropped to her knees beside him. "What's happened?" she asked, her eyes dancing with worry.

"Ask – him," Will growled, jerking his head at Barbossa.

"What do you know about this?" Elizabeth questioned.

"Bloody hell, I was only teachin' 'im a lesson," Barbossa grumbled, rolling his eyes.

"Yes, b-by dangling me over th-the b-bow unt-til I was half-dead," Will put in angrily.

"Well, seeing as ye seem to take punishment to yerself so badly, the next time ye do something like that it'll be Elizabeth who pays, so I would watch yerself if I were ye, Mister Turner," Barbossa warned, and he left the two of them.

"What on earth were you doing to deserve something like this?" Elizabeth asked sadly.

"B-bit of a m-m-misunderstanding between B-Barbossa and I," Will chattered. "It's c-cold, isn't it?"

"That's right. Come on, let's get you to a cabin before you catch a chill," Elizabeth said, helping him up. Shivering, Will followed her below deck and into an empty cabin, where she peeled his sopping coat off.

"I'll get some dry clothes for you to change into." As she walked out, she nearly ran into Barbossa.

"Dry clothes?" he said, holding out a pair of breeches and a shirt.

"Thanks…." Elizabeth said awkwardly.

"Figured he'd be needin' 'em. No offense, Miss Sw- Elizabeth, but he can be a stupid one at times."

"What sort of 'misunderstanding' got him in so much trouble?"

"'E was watchin' our little 'talk' and happened to think I was threatening ye, for whatever reason, and decided to threaten me back," Barbossa replied. "Taught 'im a little lesson about trustin' me."

Elizabeth shook her head. "Men," she murmured appreciatively, leaving a now utterly confused Barbossa standing outside the cabin.

Barbossa shook his head as well. "Women," he muttered, stumping back up to the deck. "Can't live with 'em, can't shoot 'em without bein' shot yerself."

A/N: TBC…Heheh, couldn't resist, mate. We should see Jack by chappie 3. Yes, I know it's fast, but it slows down considerably afterwards, don't worry. Real action'll probably start around…well, in around…you'll see. :) Leave me some love, I may be tempted to update again this weekend…


	3. Elizabeth has a dream

A/N: wow. I disappeared off the face of the earth for a minute there. I'm going to try to update on Saturdays or Sundays from now on…most likely Sundays, but once in a while Saturdays. So…we're almost to world's end. We should see some of Jack next chapter. –does a dance-

DISCLAIMER: Duh.

Chapter 2 

Slow motion sword fights, Elizabeth decided, were extremely boring and difficult. Barbossa had insisted on this speed until she could handle her cutlass better. She forced herself to slow down a complex parry, threw Barbossa off, and tossed her cutlass aside. "I've had it with slow motion, every time I try to slow something down I screw it up!" she said furiously.

"Ye want to speed it up?" Barbossa asked.

"_Yes_!"

"Fine. Get yer cutlass."

Elizabeth obeyed and struck immediately. Barbossa parried, slid his blade up and down hers a few times, and sent her sword flying.

"Don't just stand there, go get it," he growled. Elizabeth hastened to do as he asked, and this time he swung first. Dodging, she jabbed at him, only to have her cutlass knocked across the deck again. Her mouth fell open as he pointed at the sword. "Get it."

Elizabeth retrieved her sword again and flew at Barbossa in a fury, swinging wildly, only to find that there was not sword in her hand. "What-"

"Do ye _learn_? Get her bloody sword!"

She scrambled across the deck, got the cutlass once more, and fought for a mere few moments before the sword flew again. "Slow down!" she pleaded. "I'm not that fast!"

"Oh!" Barbossa exclaimed, trying to look surprised and failing dismally. "I thought ye wanted to speed up!"

"I…yes, but…not-"

"Should've thought before ye spoke, shouldn't ye? That's why I insisted on slow motion. Get yer cutlass, it's not like I'm goin' t' cut yer head off. Ah…" he scratched his chin awkwardly as Elizabeth sat oth the deck, head in her hands. "I didn't mean…" he mumbled in embarrassment.

Elizabeth shook her head. "It's not your fault," she murmured. "I only…I had a nightmare….About…him."

Barbossa blinked. He was good with a lot of things, but one of them was not crying women. Definitely not. And unfortunately, he didn't particularly enjoy scaring Elizabeth anymore, so he couldn't just stand there and watch. So he sat down next to her on the deck. He tried his best, but still ended up flinching a little when she leaned up against his arm. She quickly pulled away.

"Did she tell you what I did to him?" Elizabeth whispered after a while.

Barbossa ignored her question. "From what Tia Dalma's told me," he growled, trying to sound gentle, "Jack thought very highly of ye before he was taken.-"

"He won't anymore. Not after-"

"Listen, and ye'd best listen good, 'cause I'm not repeatin' this. Jack thought very highly of ye before he was taken, I know that. When 'e comes back, I'm not sayin' 'e won't be a bit angry with ye. He'd be well within 'is rights if 'e was. From what Tia Dalma's told me of ye…it was a hard decision ye made on the _Pearl_, and even if Jack's angry with ye when 'e comes back, I knew 'im well enough t' say 'e'd respect ye for it. And 'e wouldn't want ye goin' all…like this over it."

_Huh,_ Barbossa thought. _That was probably the longest speech I've ever made._

Elizabeth stood. "You're right. That wouldn't be what he wanted….He would want us to save him."

Barbossa stood as well. "So we hope."

… … …

Will was finishing off a knot when Elizabeth found him. Once he had tugged it tight, he was either ignoring her or he hadn't noticed her, so she spoke up. "Will," she said.

Will said nothing. Now Elizabeth was sure that he was ignoring her. She stepped up next to him and he looked away. "Will," Elizabeth repeated, "I want you to be honest with me. I don't know why you're being so foul, and if I don't know I can't fix it. You've got to tell me what's wrong. And I want you to look me in the eye for once, you never do anymore! The only person who won't look someone in the eye is a coward!" she cried. "Even Jack-"

Will's head whipped around. "So it comes, again, back to Sparrow," he snarled coldly. "Can't you stop thinking about him for one minute?"

"No, Will, I can't! And do you want to know why?"

"I don't know, do I? Well, why not? It can't be much worse than what I've been going through these past few days."

Elizabeth put her face close to Will's and gazed into his eyes. "I kissed him, Will," she said in a low, steady voice. "I kissed him, chained him to the mast of his own ship, and left him to die. Not what you were expecting?" She let out an emotionless laugh.

"Me neither. I expected to be married to you and to live out the rest of my days in Port Royal. Instead, I ended up facing the hangman's noose, disguising myself as a pirate, finding the chest of Davy Jones, surviving the kraken, and murdering Jack Sparrow. Now here I am going to rescue the man I murdered from World's End. Does that sound like what I expected? Does it sound like I wanted to murder him? I would have rather climbed onto the longboat right after him. But I had to do it, otherwise it would have been the death of us all."

Will stared at her, stunned into silence. Elizabeth continued.

"Satisfied? I bloody well hope so. I wasn't planning on telling you unless it was necessary. So don't tell _me_ about what _you've_ been going through the past few days, because it's _nothing_ compared to this." She finished breathing hard, her eyes burning into Will's own astonished ones.

"I had no idea…I only saw you kissing him," Will admitted.

"Maybe next time you should ask me if I did something to trouble you," Elizabeth suggested, curling her lip slightly.

Will's eyes melted as he pulled her into him. "I'm sorry," he murmured. "I still love you, Elizabeth…."

Elizabeth smiled. "I love you, too," she replied. The only thing that troubled her now was the fact that, in some secret place in her chest, a fire still burned for Jack Sparrow.

… … …

Her surroundings were slick and cool, but her body still ached with a burning heat. Her clothes were torn to pieces, almost beyond repair. She struggled to lift her leaden arm to slash at the slimy membrane and cried out as one of her wounds was aggravated. Her body was torn almost as badly as her clothes.

_There was a sudden juddering, and the slime-covered walls contracted. Phlegm, rotting corpses, and salty water rushed around her, bearing her along its wild course. Too weak to keep her head in the air, she slumped forward, swallowing much of the goop._

_She washed up on a sandy shore, barely able to crawl as her stomach ejected slime and kraken blood. Coughing weakly, she lay down on the sand, only to see, not her own dirty blond hair, but filthy black dreadlocks. Her eyes flicked over to find tan, calloused, ring-adorned hands at her sides._

She was inside Jack Sparrow's head.

… … …

Elizabeth woke with a cry of horror. Next to her, Will sat up quickly. "Elizabeth?" he mumbled sleepily. "Wha's happening?"

"No," Elizabeth whispered. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, don't say it….I don't believe…my God, what kind of monster am I?"

"Unh?" Will grunted, nonplussed.

"I don't know how I ever did it….Will, he's in so much pain…."

He was immediately more alert. "Elizabeth, I'm sure he's fine, it was only a dream," he reassured her.

Elizabeth shook her head fearfully. "It was more than that. I was inside his head, I felt was he was feeling. I saw what he saw. It was…horrible…"

"Tell me."

She shook her head again. Somehow she had the feeling that Will wouldn't want to be burdened with the dreams. "I'm fine. Go back to sleep," she said.

"Are you sure?" Will asked concernedly.

"Really, I'm fine," Elizabeth reassured him, conjuring up a convincing smile.

Will turned over and seemed to be asleep in a matter of minutes.

Elizabeth rose and went out on deck for fresh air. Leaning out over the rail, she let out a breath.

"Another nightmare, missy?" said a soft voice.

Elizabeth started. "What? Why?"

"Most every pirate I know comes out on deck at night to think…or to escape," Barbossa added slyly.

Elizabeth looked around quickly. "Don't be absurd!" she exclaimed softly. "I love him!"

"Him," Barbossa echoed disdainfully. "Him being…?"

Elizabeth was startled when she couldn't answer.

"As I was saying," Barbossa continued, "were ye havin' another nightmare?"

"I suppose I was."

"Did ye see 'im?" he asked carefully.

"I _was_ him. It was like torture. He was torn to pieces."

"Where was 'e? Did ye see 'is surroundings?"

"At first he was in the kraken…but now he's lying on a beach. A beach with black sand," Elizabeth explained.

Barbossa let out an almost inaudible breath of relief. "We're not too late. We'll be there within a week….Be prepared for the worst."

"The worst?"

"Elizabeth, t' be honest, when we find 'im 'e may be so bloody we can barely recognize 'im," he warned, reaching up to pet "Jack" the monkey as it leapt onto his shoulder. "So be prepared." He turned to walk away.

"Captain?" Elizabeth called.

Barbossa turned around. She faltered. "Spit it out, missy, I need to sleep," he growled.

"I – I don't know what to do," Elizabeth said uncertainly.

Barbossa laughed. "If ye don't know what to do, what makes ye think _I_ do?" he asked.

Elizabeth opened her mouth to speak again, but by the time she had done so, Barbossa had left her alone.


	4. The compass is once again confusing

A/N: I decided to update today rather than Sunday because I will be doing homework on Sunday, so hopefully happiness ensues. :-) Anyways…we get to see Jack this chapter! Woot! Enjoy my odd little musings…

And by the way, JeanieBeanie33: trust me, it's different. MUCH different. :-) and the big event this chapter (other than Jack coming back of course) was what I thought was going to happen even before I read that anyways.

DISCLAIMER: Do I look like a multi-billionaire with large ears and a tail??

… … …

Chapter 3

Five days passed without event. Elizabeth and Barbossa exchanged playful banter and practiced swordplay. Elizabeth's sleep was no longer filled with nightmares, and she and Will were back together.

The only thing nagging at the back of her mind was that blasted fire in her chest, which only roared higher when she tried to put it out. So for now she let it burn, hidden away from the world at large. Only Barbossa seemed to have guessed it was there, and Tia Dalma. For now, almost no one knew it existed.

On the sixth day since Elizabeth's nightmare, the _Flying Dutchman_ exploded from the waves next to _The End_. "Elizabeth, get Barbossa. Quickly!" Will said urgently.

Elizabeth scrambled from her sitting position next to him and knocked on the door to the captain's cabin. "Captain, it's the _Flying Dutchman_!" she said.

"Is it?" said Barbossa's voice from behind her. She jumped.

"Don't _do_ that!" she breathed, following him to the rail.

"Don't worry, I'm sure ye'll live," Barbossa said. "Just in case, are ye still prepared t' sacrifice yerself fer Jack? We can get ye out if ye are."

"I am," Elizabeth said.

Barbossa nodded and took out a spyglass to invite Davy Jones over. Will came up next to Elizabeth and put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't be surprised at anything that happens," Elizabeth said. "Barbossa and I have talked it over, and I agreed with him."

"Agreed on what?" Will asked, but Elizabeth was spared from having to answer by the appearance of Davy Jones.

Barbossa collapsed the spyglass.

"What is your purpose here?" Jones questioned.

"We've come fer Jack Sparrow, and we're not leavin' without 'im," Barbossa answered firmly.

"Jack Spar-row," Jones repeated. "If you want him that badly, you will need a sacrifice. A valuable one."

Keeping his stony face with difficulty, Barbossa pulled Elizabeth over. She closed her eyes and he cocked his pistol and shot her. She collapsed to the deck. "Happy?" Barbossa asked flatly.

Jones snorted through the tube on the side of his face. Barbossa wrinkled his nose at it. "You may pass," Jones said resentfully, and he disappeared from the deck, taking Elizabeth's body with him.

_The End_ sailed on.

Will rounded on Barbossa. The pirate held up a hand. "She told me she would do it if the need arose," he said, seemingly indifferent. "We'll get 'er back, don't worry yer pretty little head. And be happy she's not gone fer good."

Barbossa stroked Jack the monkey subconsciously, and it grabbed his hat as a chill wind tried to whip it off. "Drop anchor and prepare a longboat!" he ordered. "And ye," he added to Will, "are coming with me."

As the crew bustled around carrying out his orders, Barbossa stomped off in the direction of a longboat, Will trailing after him. He brushed the undead monkey from his shoulder and it scampered off.

"Barbossa," Will said, climbing down into the longboat after his captain.

"Hmm?"

"Where will she be?"

"Prob'ly floating in the water. Jack'll be lying on a beach."

They fell silent as Barbossa began to row away through the deep navy-blue waters, watching the little whirlpools churned up by the oars.

The nose of the longboat nudged up against something. Will looked back to see what it was, and found himself facing a sea of floating corpses. "Keep an eye out for 'er, Mister Turner," Barbossa said. "She'll be near the front of the line."

Sure enough, Will soon spotted Elizabeth's body, limp and face down in the water.

"Don't touch the water," Barbossa warned.

Will leaned over the edge and grabbed Elizabeth. Then he fell into the water, still clutching Elizabeth's cold, lifeless hand. "Stupid, bloody-" he heard Barbossa snarl furiously, and then he was sucked down, frigid hands stiff with death latching on and dragging him deeper.

Dead bodies slid all around him, making him shudder and kick out, pulling Elizabeth's body with him. Will felt a strong pair of hands grab his arms and wrench him and Elizabeth out of the sluggish, sucking water.

Barbossa's sopping head bobbed up next to his, grim-faced with strain and fury. "Kick, ye useless lump, kick!" he growled.

With all his strength, Will kicked out after Barbossa, who was half-dragging him through the water. He hoisted himself into the longboat beside the captain, and lifted Elizabeth in with his help. "Kept that simple," Barbossa said sarcastically. "Try an' wake 'er up. We'll need 'er help getting' Jack."

While Barbossa took up the oars again, Will bent over Elizabeth and called her name. "Elizabeth," he said. "Elizabeth, wake up."

Barbossa gave him a strange look. "She ain't asleep, boy, she's dead. She ain't gonna hear ye. Shake 'er. Give 'er a clout t' the ear. Somethin'. 'Elizabeth, wake up.'" He shook his head and rolled his eyes.

Will gave Elizabeth a rough shake. Her head lolled and she let out a soft moan.

"Come on…"

Elizabeth's eyes fluttered. "Will…" she said weakly, coughing up dark water.

"Come on, Elizabeth, wake up, we need you."

"Stop…shaking me….I'm bloody awake," Elizabeth mumbled, shaking her head vigorously.

Barbossa looked back at the approaching shore of black sand and cursed softly. "I found 'im," he murmured. "Elizabeth, do ye remember what I described when I told he t' prepare for the worst?"

"Yes…."

"'E looks worse than the worst."

Elizabeth closed her eyes briefly and sat up. "Oh, God," she whispered. "He…he looks _horrible_."

Will picked out the motionless body on the sand, and as they drew closer, he found that Barbossa and Elizabeth were right. Jack's body was covered in blood, mutilated so badly that he was barely recognizable.

The longboat bumped the shore, and they climbed out quickly. "Oh, God," Elizabeth whispered again.

"Elizabeth, grab 'is ankles," Barbossa ordered quietly, hooking Jack's elbows over his own. When Elizabeth looked for Will, he was walking back to the longboat, running a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry t' ask ye t' do this, it's my fault I didn't prepare 'im for this," Barbossa said, sounding sincere for once. "I need yer help."

Elizabeth nodded, took hold of Jack's boots, and helped Barbossa carry him back to the longboat, staring at his blood-soaked face all the while.

Once they were all sseated in the little boat, Barbossa shoved off the shore and began rowing in silence. Then he spoke again. "Be as careful as ye can with 'im. Don't try t' wake 'im up, because truth be told, I don't even know if he'll be sane when 'e does. If 'e does wake up…" he paused and shook his head. "We'll cross tha' bridge when we come t' it."

Silence fell again, and the three people in the boat who were alive studied Jack's face intently for any sign of life.

_The End_ wasn't even in sight when his eyes flickered.

His chest rose sharply, and his eyes snapped open. He didn't seem to register that anyone was around him yet. After his eyes opened, the first thing he did was let out a soft moan. Screwing up his eyes, Jack curled up in the bottom of the boat, shuddering.

Will's eyes flew wide, almost fearful. Elizabeth knelt down on the bottom of the longboat. "Leave 'im be!" Barbossa snarled. "Just let 'im alone. It'll subside."

With difficulty, Elizabeth made herself sit back on the seat until Jack relaxed slightly. Then, tentatively, she called his name.

"Jack?"

Jack let out a snarl and lashed out, hitting Barbossa on the shin. "Sparrow, quiet!" Barbossa roared. Jack growled and hit him again.

Elizabeth dropped down to her knees, took Jack's face in both hands, and stared into his eyes. They were wide, furious, filled with none of the warmth and jocularity that they had always held. Elizabeth could tell that he had no idea who he was, or who she was, or who Will or Barbossa were. He was completely and utterly confused and in an inordinate amount of pain, and hadn't the faintest clue why. "Jack," she murmured.

Jack stared back at her, the fury fading. "Jack," he repeated hoarsely. "Me?"

"You," Elizabeth smiled sadly.

A ghost of his old smirk passed across Jack's face. His head fell back, and he seemed to lose consciousness.

Stunned, Elizabeth looked up at Barbossa. "You're not surprised," she stated.

"No," Barbossa answered.

She sat back on her heels, still shocked, almost beyond belief. "What have I done?" she asked herself quietly, shaking her head.

The longboat nosed up against the hull of _The End_.

Elizabeth climbed out and settled down at the bow, fortunately unnoticed by almost anyone. From the place she had hidden it since the day she had stolen it from Jack's belt while they kissed she pulled the compass. She flipped the top open and followed the needle until it landed on Will.

Smiling faintly, Elizabeth made to close the compass again, but couldn't help noticing that the needle started to swing once more. It stopped, and then followed Barbossa, who was now carrying Jack like a baby to one of the private cabins. With a sharp intake of breath, Elizabeth snapped the compass shut before it could confuse her any further, stowed it in her pocket, and followed Barbossa below deck.


	5. Jack wakes up

A/N: I am finished with homework and bored. So…I updated. Hope you like, probably won't update again until Sunday. Maybe…I don't know if I'll be here Sunday so I updated today. Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER:-(

… … …

Chapter 4

Elizabeth was silent as she helped Barbossa to clean Jack up. The only person in the room who spoke, seeing as Jack was unconscious, was Barbossa, and even then it was only to call for a new rag, water, or rum to clean with. Soon the only sound to be heard was the firs dogwatch occasionally crossing the deck.

Elizabeth sat back on her heels to listen, watching the practiced movements of Barbossa's hands intently. She continued staring at the same spot even when his hands were gone; even when one of the hands clapped her on the shoulder; even when he left the cabin and closed the door.

Barbossa leaned up against the closed door. Not bothering to listen to what was going on inside if there was anything, and watched calmly as Will hurried over. "Leave 'er alone," Barbossa ordered.

"But-" Will protested.

"But nothin', boy. Leave 'er alone."

"Why?"

"Let _her_ tell you that," Barbossa said, nodding back at the cabin.

Will sighed resignedly. "How's Jack?" he asked quietly.

"Oh, he'll pull through. Not so sure 'bout 'is sanity, though," Barbossa replied casually.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Will said nervously. "After all, he is Captain Jack Sparrow…right?"

… … …

Elizabeth drw a chair up next to Jack's bed and sat, hugging her knees to her chest. She watched his face twitch occasionally and was forcibly reminded of how he had looked after passing out from too much rum while they were marooned.

"I'm supposed to love Will….I _do_ love Will. It's just…I don't know what to do. I didn't want to do what I did, I swear….But you don't have the faintest idea what I'm talking about. You can't even hear me for God's sake. You're lucky."

Elizabeth slid down to the floor and took the calloused hand. "I'm so sorry I did this to you, Jack…I'm so sorry…"

Softly, so softly that she almost didn't notice it, the hand squeezed back, and then let go. "Wot's your name?" came a mumble.

Elizabeth pulled herself back onto the chair. "Elizabeth."

"Elizabeth…You and angel?"

She snorted. "Far from it."

"Oh," Jack whispered, smiling weakly. "…Ye look like 'un."

"Thank you…."

"Mmm…d'you 'ave any rum?"

Elizabeth laughed. "I'll get some." She opened the door and ran straight into Barbossa.

"Just comin' t' get ye," he said. "'Ow's 'e doing?"

Elizabeth stifled another laugh. "He wants rum."

Barbossa sighed. "I could've sworn that man was married t' that stuff," he said, producing a bottle from his coat and going into the cabin. "And now 'e's bloody asleep. That's wonderful."

"Uh? 'M awake," Jack mumbled, opening one bleary eye. "Mmn, look, 'srum," he slurred, taking the bottle.

Barbossa quirked one corner of his mouth and shook his head.

… … …

Those were the last words that anyone heard Jack speak for days. Mostly he was seen on deck, peering curiously into the wind as though he had never seen it before. Otherwise he was walking around caressing the masts and ropes, as though they vaguely reminded him of something but he couldn't quite seem to place it.

In the middle of the fourth day, Barbossa put his hand on Elizabeth's shoulder and pointed up. "He'll bloody kill 'imself," he muttered. "Anyone goes up there not in their right mind's got a death wish."

Elizabeth exhaled. Jack was sitting with his legs dangling over the edge of the trestletree on the mainmast. "He'll fall," she breathed fearfully.

"What's he _doing_?" Will asked.

"I dunno," Barbossa said.

"Will, he's not in his right mind! He'll fall!" Elizabeth repeated, clutching Will's arm.

"Ooh, goody," Barbossa growled, turning around. "More excitement."

Will and Elizabeth turned around, forgetting about Jack. The _Flying Dutchman_ had come abreast of _The End_ without any of them noticing.

Barbossa didn't know what Jones could possibly want, but he sure as heck wasn't flying a white flag.

… … …

"A sacrifice is a sacrifice," Jones said. "You should have left her at World's End."

He blew out the match using that strange tube on the side of his face and puffed on his pipe. Barbossa had never been fond of that tube. Nor of Jones's beard. Nor his hat. Nor Jones himself. He suppressed a slight shudder.

"Your mistake, Captain Jones. When you said 'sacrifice', I thought ye meant we merely had t' take a life t' enter and then we could find it once we had." Of course, Barbossa had thought no such thing, but he was a pirate. Pirates lied. He didn't feel bad about it in the slightest.

"That was not what I meant," Jones said angrily, his voice growing louder. "I knew it, and you knew it as well. You were to kill her and leave her dead. Maccus!"

The fish-person with the head of a hammerhead shark grabbed Elizabeth. "Get off me!" she yelled. Maccus pinned her arms to her sides with his own and put a hand over her mouth. She shot Barbossa a pleading look. He widened his eyes in an expression that clearly said, 'We'll both be dead if I help you, and I would prefer to be alive, thanks.'

Elizabeth growled in frustration and bit Maccus's hand. He howled and quickly slapped his other hand over her mouth as she started kicking wildly.

Feeling slightly helpless, Barbossa had to settle for shooting Jones a murderous look.

"Let 'er go!" said a loud voice suddenly. Everyone turned to look at the owner of the voice. Maccus's hand slid from Elizabeth's mouth in astonishment. He clearly hadn't been informed of Jack's return.

Elizabeth stopped struggling for a moment. "Jack," she breathed, smiling.

Barbossa allowed himself a quick smirk as Jack stepped forward. "Sparrow," Jones said. "How…nice to see you."

"I said let 'er go. Or 'ave you got barnacles in your brain?" Jack said.

"Why should I let her go?" Jones said. "She was sacrificed to save _your_ skin."

"Because we need her," Jack answered.

"For…what, may I ask?" Jones questioned, making an odd snorting noise.

"If you let her come with us…we will find you your heart," Jack returned slyly.

Jones's eyes widened. "You know where it is?"

"I do."

He made a _plurp_ with his upper…er…lip, for want of a better word. He seemed to be considering. Barbossa hoped, for his own sake as much as Jack's, that Jack knew what he was doing.

Finally, Jones turned to Maccus. "Let her go," he ordered. Maccus relinquished his hold and Jones looked back at Jack. "You have four days to bring me the heart. If I do not have it by then, I get the girl." He turned and vanished, along with is crew.

Seemingly unfazed, Jack gave Elizabeth an almost dark look and disappeared below deck. Elizabeth made to follow him, but Barbossa stopped her. "I would stay up here with Will if I was ye," he said. "The only reason he just saved ye was t' tilt the scales in 'is own favor. Right now I'd be willin' t' bet that he's angrier than ye could imagine."

"Tilt the…what?" Elizabeth said, completely nonplussed. "Oh. But…"

"Just be glad 'is sanity's back. And stay up here," Barbossa advised again. He then stumped off below deck as well.

Almost immediately, Will came up behind Elizabeth and pulled her in. She leaned into him and closed her eyes. "He hates me now," she said thickly.

"I think he's just angry, Elizabeth. He doesn't hate you," Will murmured reassuringly.

"And if I was, say, Anamaria?"

"First of all, I wouldn't be hugging you. Second of all…"

"You'd say he hated me."

"Probably."

Elizabeth sighed. "But Will, I don't want him to hate me. I want it to be like before he died."

"You'll need a miracle for that," Will said sadly.

… … …

Later on, as Will slept next to her, Elizabeth lay staring at the ceiling. _I need rum_, she thought dully. It wasn't that long ago that she would have scorned herself for thinking suck things, but she did not really care anymore. She slid carefully out of bed and padded out on silent, bare feet.

Hefting an already lit lantern, she went silently below deck and into the hold. Elizabeth hung the lantern on a nail and sat against a wall, taking a bottle of rum from the rack and sipping. The memory of Jack's bloodstained face floated up, looking at her darkly and then disappearing. "What have I done?" she whispered, allowing a tear to slide down her cheek.

Something shifted in the shadows. Elizabeth took a sharp breath as a face loomed out at her, mocking.

"Do you really want to know that?"


	6. Jack explains himself quite thoroughly

A/N: well, it's Sunday. Update day! –celebration- anyway. Will freaks at Jack this chapter. It's not supposed to be funny…but I think it's funny when they do that. ) So enjoy. Happy birthday to you all.

DISCLAIMER: How many times must I TELL you this??!!

Chapter 5

"Jack!" Elizabeth choked out.

Jack ignored her exclamation. He tugged his sleeve up to show a nasty-looking scar that branched out over his veins. "That's what you did," he said quietly, untucking his shirt and taking it off. Deep cuts, barely scabbed over, criss-crossed his torso. "_That's_ what you did," he spat angrily, pulling the shirt back over his head. "I hope you're bloody happy."

Elizabeth shook her head. "No," she said. "No I'm not."

"What do you want me to do, then?" Jack snarled softly. "Throw myself off a cliff? Jump off the bowsprit and get crushed?"

Elizabeth shook her head again. "No," she repeated.

"What, then? Because-"

"Shut up! Just shut up! The only bloody reason I did what I did was because I was, and still am, in love with two bloody men, and one of them I shouldn't even be _conversing _with!" she yelled.

Jack stared at her through narrowed eyes.

"Elizabeth?"

They both turned to the doorway.

"Will," Elizabeth breathed. "Will, I can explain-"

"I'm sure you can," Will said coldly.

"Can't the both of you just _stop_?" Elizabeth said desperately.

"Stop what?" Jack put in softly. She was silent. "Stop what?" he repeated. Elizabeth didn't say anything. Jack stood and pushed past Will to get out. Will let Jack's push carry him where it would and stopped.

Elizabeth got to her feet, leaning against the wall for support.

"I don't know what you want me to do, Elizabeth," Will said heavily. "I can't pretend that any of this didn't happen."

"I don't _know_, Will!" Elizabeth hurried out through the door.

Will sighed and sat against the wall.

… … …

Elizabeth gripped the rail, bottle of rum dangling between two fingers. She breathed in the salt breeze that played up around the ship. She never even started to cry; her eyes were dry, cold, emotionless. They could have cared less. The rest of her raged and screamed silently at the night.

Elizabeth noticed Jack leaning on the rail and watching the clouds scud across the night. She took one last sip, corked the rum, and sent it rolling silently over the deck until it nudged his boot. Jack picked up the rum and looked at her. He then uncorked it and took a swig, settling his elbows back on the rail and nodding his thanks. Elizabeth nodded in return.

"You looked as though you needed it."

Jack didn't answer.

"I'm sorry, Jack," she said quietly.

He rolled his eyes and took another healthy swallow of rum. "I don't particularly care."

"Why, out of curiosity?"

"The deed's been done. No point in apologizing for it now. If you were sorry, you would have apologized before I died."

Looking down at the rail, Elizabeth replied, "I couldn't. Not there, at that moment."

"Why? Why not then, when I was slightly more accepting than I am at the moment?" Jack asked logically.

"It would have been too much. I would have apologized, unlocked you, and stayed on the ship. I know Will never would have said anything to Tia Dalma had I not…" she stopped.

Jack shook his head. "You don't get it," he muttered. "You don't now, and you never will." He downed more rum.

"What don't I get?" Elizabeth demanded, frustrated. "Why don't you bloody tell me so that I know?"

"I've already told you, Elizabeth," he said, still shaking his head. "I just don't bloody care. I really and truly could care less."

"But you do care," Elizabeth countered. "You do. Otherwise you wouldn't be this angry."

"It's not _that_ I don't care about. Of course I care if somebody bloody kills me." Jack paused and took a few more swallows of rum. "The thing I don't care about is the fact that you're sorry."

Leaving Elizabeth with these words, he swaggered off below deck without a backward glance.

A moment later, Elizabeth heard raised voices, one of them Jack's, one of them Will's. "Got off me, _it's not my bloody fault_!" Jack was bellowing furiously.

There was a loud bang, followed by a few cracks. "_Get off_!" Jack shouted as Elizabeth headed for the noises. "Stupid – bloody – eunuch! Get _off_!"

"Keep quiet!" Will roared.

The two were rolling on the floor, Jack trying to shove Will off while Will was on the attack. Elizabeth's eyes flew wide. "Stop it!" she screamed. "Stop it, both of you!"

"Shut up!" Jack yelled, eyes blazing.

Just then, Barbossa stalked in, pushed past Elizabeth, and picked up Jack's now empty bottle of rum. He smashed it over Jack's head, knocking him out. He snagged Will by the back of his coat and pulled him away.

"Let me go!" Will snarled, struggling in Barbossa's grip.

"Had a bit o' rum?" Barbossa questioned, starting to lead Will off. Will turned around and landed his fist squarely on Barbossa's nose. Gasping, Elizabeth hurried over while Barbossa put and hand up to his nose and swore when it came away bloody.

Barbossa, now snarling in anger, grabbed hold of Will's hair and Elizabeth's shoulder. "I'b sorry 'bout this, Elizabeth, bud I tode hib dat dis was whad I'd do," he said thickly though his bleeding nose. "Yer goin' up in da riggin' next storm dat cubs. 'Snot goid t' be bleasant, bud ah well."

Shoving Will across the deck, Barbossa gave the younger man a hearty nudge that almost sent him into the rail. "Gread job, whelp."

"You're cruel!" Will exclaimed, sobering up immediately.

Barbossa shrugged. "So?"

Elizabeth followed him to the Captain's cabin and closed the door. "Let's see to your nose. I want to make sure it's not broken," she said.

"Fide," Barbossa said absentmindedly, mopping away blood with his sleeve. "Eider way id can't look ady worse dan before."

Elizabeth moved over to him and touched the bridge of his nose. He hissed softly. "Broken," he muttered. "Sdupid bloody boy."

"He probably wasn't thinking straight," Elizabeth said, automatically defending Will.

"If 'e was dinkin' straight before 'e god drunk, 'e wouldn' 'ave godden drunk."

"He wasn't thinking straight before he got drunk," she said softly. "I know that for a fact."

"Why dot?"

"Never mind. Just hold the rag there until it stops bleeding…yes like that."

Barbossa held the rag as Elizabeth had instructed, though he knew full well how to take care of a broken nose.

"How does it feel?" Elizabeth asked anxiously. "Does it hurt terribly?"

"Like hell." Barbossa shifted the rag a little. "Go ged sub sleep."

"Are you sure you'll be all right?" Elizabeth said concernedly.

"I'b fide," he said dismissively. "I've 'ad worse. Go."

"And Jack? Do we just leave him lying there?"

"Yep."

"All right. Good night."

"G'dight."

A/N: Just thought I might put in a teaser for the next chappie for you all. Yes, it's evil, but I'm just evil that way. Did that make sense? Thought not. Anyway:

The sail collapsed again and refilled, pulling Elizabeth, still holding on to the rope, away from the mast. She screamed as she started to fall…

Dun dun DUN!!! ) have fun until next update. And REVIEW!! That purple button down there is really quite sexy…well not really…but it's calling to you…it says 'click me…you know you want to…'


	7. Barbossa gets salt in his eye

A/N: Well, here we are, another chapter. Jack now takes one on the chin for Elizabeth, who was supposed to be taking it for Will, who spazzes. Spazes. Spazs. However you spell it. Anyways…enjoy.

DISCLAIMER: the usual.

Chapter 6

Rain hissed and pounded on the deck, illuminated by lightning. Thunder rolled and boomed across the sky like some giant, restless sleeper on a bed of boulders. Waves crashed over the deck and threatened to sweep half the crew overboard. Elizabeth struggled to hear as Barbossa, hair plastered across his face, bellowed directions at her.

"Ye've got t' cut free the foreyard before it tears the mast down!" he shouted, handing her a knife. "Go quickly! Good luck!"

Elizabeth looked up at the storm. "I'll need it," she muttered to herself, struggling toward the mast.

The ship tossed and leaped like a toy boat. She grabbed onto a rope and bent her head against the wind.

Sliding the knife between her teeth, Elizabeth pulled herself into the rigging and started to climb. She could see Barbossa holding Will back by the back of the shirt. The younger man looked terrified, while the pirate was watching her with a grim calm.

Elizabeth battled her way through the wind and rain, finally reaching the foreyard. Her grip slipped a little; she hugged the mast tightly with one arm and used her free hand to grab the knife.

The sail collapsed over her for a minute, and then refilled with air, causing the whole mast to shudder. Her arm slipped a little further.

Trying not to fall as the foreyard billowed and snapped around her, Elizabeth reached out and went to work on the first of the taut ropes. It severed at the touch of the blade and caught her across her midriff. She gasped at the sting, then gritted her teeth and grasped another rope. This too snapped when Elizabeth brushed it with the knife, but this time she held it away from her body.

The sail collapsed again and refilled, pulling Elizabeth, still holding on to the rope, away from the mast. She screamed as she started to fall, the air rushing around her ears-

A hand caught on to her wrist. Not looking up to see who had caught her, Elizabeth gripped the other person's wrist and let go of the rope. The person heaved her up onto the trestletree. Elizabeth put her arm back around the mast, looked up to thank them, and stopped. It was Jack, rain running down his face, dripping from the ends of his dreadlocks, blurring his kohl.

"Get down! I'll take care of it!" he roared as the mast gave another violent shudder. Elizabeth hesitated. "_GO_!" Jack bellowed, pulling himself higher.

She quickly lowered herself to the deck, stumbling over to Will and Barbossa. Will was shouting angrily at the captain about sending Elizabeth into the rigging. "It's yer own bloody fault, idiot!" Barbossa was pointing out.

"Elizabeth!" Will exclaimed. "Go down and change-"

"Jack is still up there!" Elizabeth screamed, pointing.

"That man has been on a ship for at least twenty years, he will be absolutely fine!" Barbossa yelled.

At that moment, the foreyard flew free of the mast, twisting away into the storm-tossed night like an angry spirit. Thunder crashed, coinciding with a crack of lightning. A man toppled into the water. Will, Elizabeth, and Barbossa rushed to the railing. They could still see the man floating along over the waves.

Barbossa took off his hat, thrust it at Elizabeth, and dove into the water. Squinting as it flooded his eyes with salt, he kicked through the frothy waves.

At the rail, Will and Elizabeth watched as Barbossa's head bobbed up for air and went back down. A flicker of lightning lit up Will's stony face, some ten feet away from Elizabeth.

About a minute had passed, and still Barbossa had not come back up.

The storm was abating, seeming as though it realized what it had done. The thunder was not as loud, the lightning less violent and frequent, though the rain still lashed with a vengeance. The crew had gone back to their cabin, and the deck was empty save for Will and Elizabeth.

"Will…" Elizabeth said. Will looked over, his face expressionless. "Will, are they…?"

Will shook his head and turned back to the water. "They can't be."

"Will," said a hoarse, tired voice a minute later. "Elizabeth. Get 'im up."

"Captain Barbossa!" Elizabeth hurried over next to Will, smiling in relief. She took hold of Jack and pulled him up with Will while Barbossa hauled himself over the side, looking odd without his hat. He took said item from Elizabeth and put it on his head.

Kneeling next to Jack, Elizabeth swept her rain-soaked hair from her face. "Is he all right?" she asked.

"Mm-hm," Barbossa said, rubbing at one red eye with a finger. "Woke up while we were still out there and gave me a blast of water in the face. Just exactly what I needed."

Just then, Jack woke and coughed up water. He opened his eyes. "Christ," he muttered. "My 'ead." He coughed more water onto Barbossa's boots. "'Elp me up," he said in a scratchy voice.

"Ye're not t' be standin' quite yet," Barbossa said. "Oi, Will, get ahold of 'is boots."

"Bloody hell," Jack growled. "I'll stand meself then." He scrambled to his feet, only to sway dizzily and throw up more water before crumpling backwards. Will caught him neatly while Barbossa grabbed hold of his ankles.

"Captain, you're bleeding," Elizabeth told Barbossa.

"Pressure," he replied. "So's Jack."

"What? How?" Elizabeth asked.

"Caught me 'ead on the yardarm," Jack murmured as they laid him on a bed.

"Let's see, then," Barbossa said. "Will, out."

"It's my fault this happened, isn't it?" Will said bitterly.

"We don't need ye goin' into any more drunken rages, Mister Turner, so I suggest ye don't lose any sleep over it," Barbossa said evasively. "Now out."

Will left, shutting the door quietly behind himself.

"Take a look at Jack's head, Elizabeth, would ye? I've still salt in me eye," Barbossa said, rubbing one bloodshot, watery eye.

Elizabeth nodded and moved over to Jack. Blood was running down the right side of his face and staining the pillow. She knelt beside the bed and parted the hair around the wound. "It's bleeding a lot," she said worriedly, looking up.

"Well praises be, it's a normal head wound," Barbossa said in mock relief. "Is it _deep_? Are there any splinters in it? Does it need to be cleaned?"

Elizabeth looked again, provoking a soft growl from Jack. "It's not too deep," she announced. "I can't tell if there are any splinters for the blood…. It definitely needs cleaning."

"Right," Barbossa said, looking a fright with blood running from his nose into his beard. "We'll need two bottles of rum, rags, and a bucket of water."

By the time Elizabeth returned with the items he had asked for, his sleeves were rolled up and his fingertips stained red as he examined the cut. "Deeper than I though, but not bad. Give Jack one of the bottles of rum. Helps to settle the pain a bit. Now clean it with rum first…. Disinfects it a bit before we clean it with water."

Elizabeth wet one of the rags with rum and passed it gently through the cut, wiping away the blood. Jack shifted. "Bloody hell," he snarled. He pushed Elizabeth's hand away, grimacing.

Barbossa held out his hand for the rum-soaked rag and briskly rubbed the cut down with it. Clenching his teeth, Jack took a hasty gulp of rum and relaxed slightly. He winced again as Barbossa took out a splinter. "Clean it with water," Barbossa ordered. "Jack, get as completely blitherin' drunk as ye can get, I've got t' stitch it."

"My specialty," Jack hissed through his teeth as Elizabeth started to clean the cut with water. This done, Barbossa looked at him.

"Ready?"

Jack gave him a bleary-eyed, drunken stare. "Eh?"

"Good. Elizabeth, I'll need ye t' wipe up the blood."

Elizabeth took up position next to the bed.

Jack started to breathe harder as Barbossa made his second stitch, and his eyes closed tighter.

"Blood."

Elizabeth quickly wiped away an escaping streak of scarlet.

As Barbossa made the fourth stitch, Jack let out a harsh breath, but didn't move. "Hurry it up," he whispered.

"Blood."

Another trickle wiped away. Elizabeth remembered how, in her dream, Jack had been unable to move for pain as he lay stiff in the bed and panicked slightly. "Captain, I can't do this," she pleaded.

"Ye'll be fine, there's only one t' go," Barbossa said dismissively. "I don't care what ye remember, just help 'im now. Blood."

Shaking, Elizabeth drew the rag over Jack's cheek again.

Barbossa finished off the final stitch and broke the thread with his teeth. Then he took a rag, padded the cut with another piece of folded up cloth, and bound it deftly around Jack's head. Jack let out a sigh and finished off the rum. "Me father 'n' I can't be 'round each oth'r w'thou' end'n' up bell'win' at each oth'r, ye kn'w," he slurred, completely oblivious to what he was saying.

Elizabeth rose and left.

"Ye can take off yer charade, Jack, she's gone," Barbossa said, sighing at the younger man's immaturity.

"Eh? Oh. Well it _is_ true," Jack said defensively.

"Why should I care?" Barbossa said.

"I dunno…. What was she supposed to be remembering?" Jack asked.

Barbossa hesitated. "Ye need t' change into dry clothes."

Jack looked at him through narrow eyes. "So d'you. I don't believe that was the answer to my question."

Barbossa smiled and gave Jack a sideways look. "I don't believe I care," he said cheerfully. "I'll find ye some clothes then go change myself. Then I'll come back and check on ye."

"You know I only put on that little show so Elizabeth would leave," Jack said solemnly, sitting up. "I'm not _that_ badly hurt."

Barbossa, who was searching a small closet inside the cabin for clothes, paused and looked over his shoulder. "I don't believe ye're tellin' the truth," he said, raising his eyebrows. Jack raised one eyebrow in return.

"I don't believe I care."

Shaking his head, Barbossa turned back to the small closet. "That's just too bloody bad then, isn't it?" He threw a shirt and breeches on the chair next to the bed and realized that the only shirt left that would fit him was light blue. "Damn."

"If you don't mind my saying so, that is one ugly shirt," Jack remarked from the bed.

Barbossa made an attempt to ignore him and felt into the very back corners, where he found a wine-colored shirt. "Better'n nothin'," he muttered, and left the cabin.


	8. Davy Jones is given orders

A/N: apparently it's a happy easter update. ) well it is Sunday…so. My easter present to you all. Happy Easter…D

This chappie kind of jumps around perspectives a bit, just to let you know what's going on around the rest of the Caribbean.

DISCLAIMER: do you think Disney'll give me the pirates in my Easter basket?

Chapter 7

"So you possess my heart," Davy Jones growled, looking down at the man in front of him.

Lord Cutler Beckett smiled calmly and patted his breast pocket.

"I do. And this means that you, Davy Jones, are now under my control."

Jones sniffed disapprovingly.

"I suppose I am, in a manner of speaking," he admitted. "What do you want of me?"

Still smiling, Beckett took a step back so that he didn't have to look up at the person he was issuing orders to (a fact that did not go unnoticed by Jones) and said, "Hunt down and personally kill Jack Sparrow and those on his ship. I want Sparrow's head as confirmation."

Jones gave him a wide smile.

"With pleasure."

… … …

Governor Swann felt a bead of sweat slide down his cheek and wiped it off on the pretext of relieving an itch.

It was stifling hot in Lord Beckett's office; even more so when Beckett himself was there, but fortunately the small man was not present. However, it did not make the governor feel much better that he was alone with Beckett's personal bodyguard and assassin. Mercer was giving him a piercing stare.

"Have you any idea what your daughter has been doing?" Mercer asked, his eyes never leaving their quarry.

Governor Swann swallowed.

"No," he answered in a voice rather too small for his liking. Mercer did not pass by this fact; on the contrary, he smiled emotionlessly at the governor.

"Only recently, she as murdered Jack Sparrow, gone to the end of the world to find the same man in the company of the pirate Hector Barbossa, has met with Davy Jones, and is currently sailing with Captains Barbossa and Sparrow and Mister William Turner," Mercer said matter-of-factly.

The governor's gaze faltered for a moment. His daughter was sailing with pirates? Sailing with them willingly? And with Hector Barbossa, the former and fearsome Captain of the _Black Pearl,_ no less.

"Do you know what this means, Governor?" Mercer continued.

Governor Swann cleared his throat. Deciding to play along with Mercer's little game, he said innocently, "I've no idea."

"It means," said the assassin, "that your daughter may be hunted down and brought to court and hung like any common pirate."

Caught off guard, the governor gaped.

"No!"

Mercer smiled again. "Yes," he said.

Governor Swann quickly regained his composure. "Why have you brought me here?" he asked. "What do you want from me?"

"There is a way we might spare her from hanging," Mercer said, still smiling in that disconcerting way.

The governor looked up sharply.

"Since you asked Lord Beckett to do what he could for Elizabeth, you have had a say in what you did after he asked something of you," the assassin began carefully, smile fading back to his usual scowl. "Lord Beckett feels that some of the decisions you have made were not for the best. He wishes for you to give over full power; not questioning his orders, only carrying them out. For even if you think that what Lord Beckett requests is not for the best, it is."

The governor sighed and looked at the floor. There seemed no alternative unless he wanted to watch his daughter hang for piracy and murder. "Do what you can to secure my daughter's safety," he agreed reluctantly.

"Good," Mercer said. "Now…what we first need you to do…"

… … …

Elizabeth was beginning to resent the skill with which Barbossa wielded a sword. No matter how she concentrated on everything that Will had taught her and everything Barbossa had attempted to teach her, she never lasted more than a minute. It was on one of the days that she practiced swordplay with the pirate that Jack suddenly interrupted.

"You're doing it all wrong," he said. "Barbossa's a lot bigger and stronger than you are. You'll never last if you keep going at him straight on."

"Thanks," Elizabeth spat, stooping to pick up her cutlass.

She stood again and flew at Barbossa in frustration. Trying to follow Jack's advice, she dodged instead of parrying and received a shallow nick on her shoulder.

Jack clucked in impatience.

"I didn't say 'don't parry,' just don't try to drive him back, it won't work."

"_You_ do it, then!" Elizabeth said, jamming her cutlass back into its sheath.

"Fine, then," Jack said. He unsheathed his sword in a smooth arc and engaged Barbossa with a sideways swing.

As Barbossa tried to back him into a corner, Jack sidled beneath the blade and attacked from a different angle. Barbossa, taking advantage, drove him back towards the bow, blacking escapes to different angles.

Catching Barbossa's blade with his, Jack swooped beneath and started the process over.

"You see, if you keep doing this," Jack called over his shoulder, "you'll eventually be able to get through his defenses and give him a few cuts to think about. Or whoever you're fighting," he amended carefully as Barbossa gave him a glare.

Jack put away his cutlass and returned to his position at the rail "Well, go on, I didn't do that for nothing, did I?" he said.

"No," Elizabeth returned, "you did it to frustrate me."

"Maybe I did," Jack said, sitting down and tugging at his bandage with a small grimace. "Thanks, now I've got a headache."

"No problem," Elizabeth growled.

He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. "No need to snap," he said coolly, raising his eyebrows.

Elizabeth opened her mouth furiously to reply.

"Shut yer yammerin' pieholes, the both o' ye," Barbossa snapped wearily. "Elizabeth, over here. I want ye to try that out."

Jack watched through one eye as Elizabeth engaged Barbossa again, trying to find different angles before she was backed into a corner and failing.

"Enough," Barbossa said finally. "I can see I'm not getting' much more out of ye today."

"Fine," Elizabeth said slamming the sword into its sheath. "That is, unless Jack here isn't satisfied with my performance."

She rounded on Jack, eyes flashing. He smiled lazily.

"I enjoyed watching. It was very engaging." He made to get up-

Smack.

Burning pain shot through his head as his neck jerked sideways. A stream of violent curses hissed between his teeth.

"What the bloody _hell_ was that for?" Jack snarled.

Elizabeth swore at him.

"You little-!"

"Now, now, no need for that language," Jack said.

Fortunately, Barbossa caught onto Elizabeth's wrist before she could slap Jack again. "Jack," he said in warning.

Laughing softly to himself, Jack ambled off, eyes barely slits and head cradled in one hand.

"Hold now, missy," Barbossa said. "He's _tryin'_ to provoke ye."

"I don't _care_!" Elizabeth exclaimed. "That man – is _the_ most _infuriating_ man I have _ever_-"

"I know. But any more outbursts like that and I'm keepin' ye away from him."

"And what about Jack? You're letting him go around like this?"

"Aye."

"But _why_?" she asked exasperatedly.

"Because he's a right t' go around like this. He's just been killed by someone he thought was a friend, hasn't he?"

… … …

Admiral James Norrington was standing ramrod straight in Beckett's office waiting for orders, about an hour after Governor Swann had been there. He watched the shorter man pacing and wished he would hurry up. His back was starting to hurt.

Finally, Beckett wheeled around to face Norrington. "Take your crew and sail with Davy Jones, but on a separate ship," he ordered. "Make sure he follows my orders to the letter and remind him of our sway over him if you must. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," Norrington said, thinking of the fact that 'do you understand' would have been replaced by 'savvy' had he still been on Jack Sparrow's ship and nearly laughing aloud.

"Good," Beckett said. "Go and ready the _Dauntless_."

"Yes, sir," Norrington repeated. He saluted and went to carry out Beckett's orders.

When he was out of the office, Norrington let himself slump into the more comfortable position he had adopted while serving on Jack's crew. Feeling slightly more relaxed, Norrington stepped out into the hot Caribbean sunlight.

… … …

"Jack, ye've really got to stop that."

Jack opened one eye.

"Why's that?"

"Because one, she beats herself up over this enough as it is, and two, seein' as _I'm_ the only one on this ship that has no quarrel with her, it's _me_ she comes complainin' to," Barbossa explained angrily. "And three, t' tell the truth, I'm getting' fed up with it myself."

"What's _she_ got to complain about?" Jack asked. "Compared to what _she_ did, _I'm_ only a minor annoyance. What can she _possibly_ complain to you about?"

"She knows what happened before ye woke up, Jack," Barbossa said. He paused to allow his words to sink in. As he had expected, Jack looked surprised, and almost angry.

"She's not told me what it is, and I've not asked her, but she knows. That's how we found ye."

Jack stared.

"No, I'm not tellin' ye _how_ she knows, so don't ask," Barbossa said firmly. "I suggest ye either lay off a bit or find out what she knows."

Jack blinked and recovered his cool composure. "Yes," he said. "Yes, Great Psychiatrist, I shall surely do as you say, for you are all-knowing of the subject of being in hell…"

"I was killed by someone I thought was on my side, too, Jack, remember?" Barbossa reminded him, giving a calm smile. "I remember. You're not the only one who's been there, believe me."

"I'd forgotten," Jack snapped.

Barbossa sniffed and narrowed his eyes in annoyance.

"Well lucky fer ye."

… … …

Nearly an hour later, Jack decided to take Barbossa up on his advice.

Though he shuddered to do it, he sought out Elizabeth and led her up on deck. For a few minutes they merely look at each other through narrowed eyes, arms folded. Jack finally broke the silence.

"What do you know?" he asked.

"About what?" Elizabeth said.

"World's End."

"Only what I saw from the boat. And that Davy Jones is the gate keeper, so to speak," she added. "Why?"

"That's not what I was talking about," Jack said. "You know that wasn't what I was talking about."

"I don't know anything."

He narrowed his eyes.

"That's not what I heard."

"Whoever told you I knew something was lying," Elizabeth said smoothly.

"Good," Jack said. He turned to walk away.

"Jack, wait," Elizabeth called softly.

Jack swiveled around on his heel.

"What?"

"It must have been terrible for you to be trapped on that island," Elizabeth said quietly, choosing her words deliberately.

Jack didn't say anything. He was giving her a level stare.

"I could care less whether you forgive me or not at the moment. I just want you to hear me out," she said. "I know that what happened on the island must have been bad, and I only wanted to say that I'm sorry-"

"You just said you hadn't the faintest idea what happened there," Jack said in low tones.

"Well, yes, I…"

"Then how would you know that it was bad?"

"When you woke up-"

"You've hardly the right to be apologizing, you don't even know what you did!" he pointed out. "You don't know _anything_!"

"I know everything, all right, Jack?" Elizabeth admitted loudly. "I know how the kraken spit you out on that beach, I know all you could do was lay there and stare at your rings, or the beads in your hair, or the sand, I know that you couldn't even move, I know it all, I know everything that happened!"

"Oh, really?" Jack said, his voice now dangerously. Low. "And what happened in between, when you woke up in the middle of the night and went crying to Barbossa? What happened when you were awake during the day? You don't know the bloody half of it. You don't know how it is lying there going mad and knowing you were the entire time. Not the faintest _clue_. So until you _do_ know, I suggest you don't even attempt talking about this."

"Jack, I didn't know…" Elizabeth said helplessly.

"That's my point, you imbecile," Jack growled. He stalked off in a fury and left Elizabeth standing there dumbstruck.

A/N: happy birthday. Geez, this was 7 pages long on word. Hope you like it. Leave me some love. )


	9. Elizabeth breaks a bottle

A/N: I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!!!!!!! I am I really am… \ I promise updates will come on Sundays once again. I've had this written for forever and I haven't gotten a minute to type it in a while. –looks afraid- don't eat me… (

And for those who are interested: I got a turkey today! –does a happy dance-

DISCLAIMER: once again, duh.

Chapter 8

"Let me be sure I have this straight," Elizabeth said, pushing her hair out of her face. She shook droplets from her fingertips with slight annoyance; a fine drizzle had been falling all day, and the sky had turned an ominous grey.

"You, Barbossa, and I are to row ashore. You and Barbossa are to go to Beckett's office. You stand guard while Barbossa goes in for the heart. I am to stand outside the office window, waiting for him to hand it to me. Then I wait for the two of you for half an hour at the most and make for _The End_ if you haven't come by then."

"Right," Gibbs said. "We've just got to hope ye don't run into any trouble on the way…"

"I wouldn't trust her with that," Jack put in from the sidelines. "Best to bring someone else."

Elizabeth ignored him. Gibbs, however, gave him a confused look.

"Why not?"

"Because…"

Elizabeth couldn't ignore him any longer. "You wouldn't dare," she said dangerously.

"Wouldn't I?" Jack asked. "She's odd," he continued to Gibbs. "One moment she's on your side, completely trust worthy, and the next she goes and-"

"Jack!"

"What _now_?"

"Don't you _dare_," Elizabeth warned nervously. "Don't even _think_ about -"

"Too late, luv, already thought about it," Jack said, using the old nickname stiffly. He turned back to Gibbs, who was now eyeing the pair apprehensively.

"One minute you think you can trust her," Jack muttered, "and then she chains you to a mast and leaves you to die."

Gibbs's eyebrows went, if possible, even higher than before.

"Mr. Gibbs, I can assure you that this is all lies," Elizabeth said smoothly. "_Mr._ Sparrow, I can assure _you_ that it took a great deal of self-restraint to keep me from giving you another good clout in case you'd forgotten the last."

"It would've been nice if you'd have used some of that extraordinary willpower before you chained me to the mast…"

Elizabeth smacked him again. Jack reeled, his neck jerking sideways. His head stayed turned to the side, his eyes closed a hand on his bandage.

"I suppose I deserved that," he said quietly.

"You did," Elizabeth said in level tones.

"Awk! Scared of a lass!" squawked Cotton's parrot from the rigging.

Jack gave the bird a death glare.

… … …

Jack and Elizabeth were standing on opposite sides of the ship.

On the port side, Elizabeth was determinedly staring anywhere but at Jack. She had a furious look on her face that would make most any grown man quail at the sight.

Jack was on the starboard side. He, on the other hand, was staring directly at Elizabeth, giving the back of her head a very ugly look. This did not have much effect, as it was hampered by the ragged bandage and fading kohl, which gave him the almost pitiful look of a wounded raccoon that hadn't slept in weeks.

Barbossa neither knew nor cared what had happened this time as long as it didn't bother him. He'd about had it with the pair of them snapping at each other everywhere they went.

Looking more closely at Jack, though, he couldn't help giving a lopsided smirk at the red mark that was the unmistakable outline of a hand. _Slapped again, Sparrow, _he thought. _Wonder if one day that red mark'll just never go away._ Barbossa's smirk widened.

The door to the crew's quarters banged open and about ten men stomped onto deck. Barbossa stepped out of the shadows and pulled out his spyglass. "Port Royal's on the horizon!" he bellowed. "Lower the anchors and prepare a longboat!"

"Aye, Captain, aye!" the crew chanted at him.

Cotton's parrot squawked from above and attempted to drop a poo on Barbossa's hat. Barbossa dodged it casually, tossed his braid over his shoulder, and went to find Gibbs. The old seaman was at the capstan, leading a chant. He roared, "Fif-teen men on-a dead-man's-chest!"

"Yo-ho-ho and-a bottle-of-rum!" the crew roared back, giving a great heave on the bars on the third 'ho.'

"Gibbs!" Barbossa said. He jerked his head at the longboat and stumped over to where Elizabeth was already waiting. Giving an exaggerated bow, he said, "Ladies first."

Elizabeth gave Barbossa a look he felt he did not quite deserve and stepped into the longboat. He followed her, and Gibbs after him.

"So 'e earned it this time?" Barbossa said suddenly, barely suppressing the smirk.

Elizabeth's jaw stiffened.

"He certainly did."

He couldn't help it. He smiled widely as he rowed and continued to do so until the boat nudged up against a rocky outcrop. Putting the oars inside the boat, Barbossa gestured at the ground.

"Out with ye."

"Patience is a virtue, Captain," Elizabeth retorted, getting to her feet.

"'Snot my virtue," Barbossa pointed out.

The three moved into the trees and wound their way silently to the woodline. "Where's Beckett's office?" Barbossa said quietly. He and Gibbs followed Elizabeth's outstretched finger to a cluster of small buildings.

"Right there in the center," Elizabeth whispered.

Barbossa took off his hat and hung it on a branch before moving onto the street with the others. "It'll attract a bit of attention," he explained to no one in particular.

They allowed themselves to be shunted along by the crowd and, once near the cluster of buildings, stepped off. Barbossa inconspicuously slid out a dagger. "We're here t' see Lord Beckett," he told the guard, twirling the point of the blade subconsciously on the man's hand.

"And if I don't let you in?" the man said nervously.

"Then I cut all the ligaments in both yer hands so they'll never move again," Barbossa said cheerfully.

The guard swallowed. "In – in you go," he stammered, not seeming able to open the gate fast enough.

Barbossa stepped through and rendered the man unconscious with a thumb jammed at the base of his skull. He propped the guard against the wall and motioned Elizabeth and Gibbs through. "This window," he told Elizabeth. She nodded and concealed herself in the shadows.

Barbossa led Gibbs around to the front of the building and stopped. He studied the window for a moment, slipped the blade of the dagger between the glass and the wood, and worked the glass from its frame. Then he climbed through the window and lowered himself to the floor. Gibbs followed with a grunt.

Down the hall in silence, ended in a glossy pine door. Barbossa took hold of the handle and turned it down with painstaking care not to make a noise, and then, one hand on his pistol, let the door swing wide.

It was definitely Beckett's office: shining wooden table, neat desk, fireplace, pirate brand…glass box, heart of Davy Jones thumping away inside….

With Gibbs staying at the door to keep watch, Barbossa moved into the office. Looking around to be sure the room was empty, he walked to the desk without even a creak, picked up the heart –

"And just what are _you_ doing, sir?"

Barbossa swiveled around and cursed silently. He was staring down the barrel of a pistol that was a mere five feet away. "Survivin', an' ye?" he said calmly.

The man behind the pistol, who had a slack, serious face and dark hair, allowed himself a small smile.

"Keeping you from surviving."

Barbossa edged toward the window as he spoke.

"I see," he said. "Quite a difficult goal, don't ye think?"

"Oh, not at all," the man said, cocking the pistol. "You see if I pull this trigger, you will be dead. Most especially if you do not stop moving toward that window."

Barbossa halted his stealthy retreat, thinking violent oaths. "Moving toward the window? Now where'd ye get that idea?" he said innocently. "Anyways, last time I was shot with a pistol, I came back to life. 'Twouldn't work too well for ye, would it?"

The man closed his eyes briefly and smiled again. Barbossa used this chance to take a large, hasty step toward the window.

"Hector Barbossa, isn't it?" the man said. He didn't seem at all disturbed by the fact that Barbossa had died and come back, which had been what Barbossa had been counting on.

"That's _Captain_ Barbossa to ye," he said menacingly. His back hit the wall.

"Even better," the man said. "A wanted captain." The finger on the trigger tightened.

Barbossa put his arm out the window. "Ye shoot and I'll drop the heart," he threatened.

"A clever ruse," the man said, smiling for a third time. "We both know you want to have Jones at your beck and call as much as any man."

"Actually, I'd not mind if Jones was gone meself," Barbossa said, unperturbed.

"The man that stabs Jones's heart must replace him on the _Flying Dutchman_, Captain," the man said. His arm steadied and his finger curled around the trigger.

Hoping very much that Elizabeth was ready, Barbossa tossed the box up into the fine drizzle and made a dive for the man's legs. He heard glass shatter, half a curse fly from his own mouth as he hit the ground and realized what the breaking glass must mean, and the pistol discharging. The round buried itself in the wall before the man's back had hit the floor.

As he knocked the pistol away, Barbossa wondered briefly where Gibbs was. He unsheathed his cutlass and pressed it to the man's neck. "Not a word to anyone that I was here and what I was doing here, or I will personally find ye and kill ye," Barbossa warned him.

The man might have been a robot for all the expression on his face. "I'm so concerned," he said flatly.

Barbossa smiled widely. "Be concerned," he advised the man. "Technically I'd be Davy Jones now, so I'd have the kraken at me command." He jammed his cutlass into its sheath and stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Gibbs was out cold on the floor, presumably as a result of the same technique Barbossa had used on the guard seeing as there was no blood. Barbossa knelt on the floor and gave him a smack. The old sailor blinked.

"Up," Barbossa said. "We've got t' make a run fer it."

Gibbs grunted, rolled to his feet, and took off after Barbossa, who was already almost halfway out the window.

Around the side of the building, Elizabeth stood next to a spray of glass fragments. In her arms she cradled the glass box containing Davy Jones's heart. Barbossa gave her a questioning look as she joined him and Gibbs.

"I heard Mercer's voice. I could tell he would have shot you if he didn't think the glass was broken," she panted. "I found a bottle and broke that."

"'Tis a relief to know I'll not be turnin' into Davy Jones, at any rate," Barbossa muttered, relieving the branch of his somewhat soggy hat and cramming it on his head nonetheless.

On the beach, Barbossa cut the rope tying the longboat to a tree and tossed the length still attached to the boat into the bow. "In," he ordered shortly.

Elizabeth and Gibbs practically leapt into the boat as crashes and rustling in the woods indicated pursuit. Barbossa pushed the boat off. It slid into the water easily.

When the land abruptly dropped off, he pushed off of the sand and heaved himself into the boat. He and Gibbs took an oar each and pulled on them with speed.

A battalion of soldiers poured from the trees and leveled their rifles at the frantically rowing men and at Elizabeth, whom they clearly did not recognize.

"Down!" Barbossa ordered.

All three ducked down for the protection of the hull as lead balls went whizzing over their heads, on all sides, and buried themselves in the wood.

"Row!" Barbossa barked at Gibbs.

They sat up and quickly started rowing again. As the soldiers aimed once more, Barbossa yelled "Down!" again, and another volley of lead passed and left them unscathed.

This pattern continued until they were out of range, rowing while the soldiers loaded their rifles and ducking when they fired. Then the fort's cannons began to bellow, exploding the water near the longboat and slopping it inside.

Barbossa spat a violent curse as a cannonball grazed his arm, but continued rowing even so. It stung and burned so badly that the trip to _The End_ seemed as though it would never be over.

_The End _did eventually come into view, though with a continuous hiss of curses and oaths from Barbossa. Elizabeth had attempted to worry over his arm, and he had given a snarl that sounded so nasty that she had quailed at it and sat back down in the stern.

Barbossa climbed out first with quite the ugly look on his face. It had been quite a while since Elizabeth had been genuinely afraid of him. His temper was, in truth, quite bad, she thought. Keen to avoid said temper being taken out on her, she went below deck to hide the heart, carefully skirting Will on his way up to topdeck.

"So we're not actually givin' the heart t' Jones, are we?" Barbossa was saying to Jack when Will joined them.

"O' course not," Jack said, giving Barbossa a look that clearly said, 'What are you, stupid?' "As we returned his dear lovely hear, ol' Jonesey would just send 'is beastie right after us."

"So what exactly were ye planning' on doin' with it?"

"I was curious about that myself," Will interjected. "Are we going to stab it?"

Now it was Barbossa who gave Will an 'Are you stupid?' look. "Whoever stabs that thing will have t' captain th' _Dutchman_ for eternity," he explained exasperatedly. "I doubt many want that."

"Ah," Will said. "Then what do we do with it?"

Now it was Jack that answered him. "We go to Shipwreck Cove," he said.

Completely nonplussed, Will said, "Shipwreck Cove?"

Barbossa nodded in understanding.

"Shipwreck Cove be the place where the Brethren have their meeting place."

A/N: allrighty then. There we go now,…finally. I've definitely started to think out the next chapter and so far I think it's gonna be a good one. Well, at least it'll be fun to write ;) thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far, you guys are awesome. Leave me more love, it inspires me to write faster! And feel free to tell me any ideas you have, I may incorporate them in the story. Don't worry I'll give you full credit for it if I use it ;)


	10. Jack owes a few people money

A/N: wow, I was actually writing the entire time that I wasn't updating for once. It took a little bit to come up with the procedures for the pirate meeting and I thought that they might be slightly formal about it because of the code, but of course, that was before I saw AWE. And speaking of which, I will attempt to end it _somewhat_ like the movie was ended, but I'll give it a little spin of my own. Don't leave me now, we're just getting to the most important part! Enjoy yourselves.

DISCLAIMER: umm.

Chapter 9

Barbossa's voice needed a bit of tuning, but it would do for the moment. Jack was just Jack and bellowed the song, though surprisingly in key. Funnily, Barbossa was almost embarrassed for him, but more for the fact that he himself was singing along and completely out of tune.

Now that she knew it, Elizabeth would sometimes join in with the chorus, and soon the whole crew was up on deck singing.

Passing pirate ships took the song up and sailed with it. A gang of Asian pirates picked it up from a bunch of Australian buccaneers and began roaring in a mix of Chinese, Japanese, and Cantonese. Within hours the song was picked up by the attentive ears of an Asian pirate captain, who set sail immediately. His crew sang raucously, giving the signal to a band of Brazilian pirates.

From there the words were passed on to a small Canadian junk, and then an African galley, until the seven seas seemed to echo with song. By the time the week was out, a time during which the crew of _The End_ very much hoped that Davy Jones thought they had died, Shipwreck Cove was crammed with pirate ships, all proudly flying the Jolly Roger or identifying flags of the captains' own design.

Elizabeth, Barbossa, Will, and Jack all stood at the rail of _The End_ in a row, staring around the cove.

"There's not been a gatherin' like this in our lifetime," Barbossa voiced to no one in particular. Jack curled his lip.

"And I owe them all money," he muttered as though he had just realized the fact. "Bugger."

"Ye're borrowin' _nothin'_ from me," Barbossa told him.

Jack cursed again while the older man started pointing ships out to Will and Elizabeth.

"That there's Sao Feng," he said, indicating an Asian junk with accordion-like sails that looked about the color of parchment. "And Vaunesse. An' there's that odd one who wears a turban, could ne'er pronounce his name."

"And the fourth pirate lord…?" Elizabeth prompted.

"Present," Jack murmured, keeping his eyes on Sao Feng's ship. "They're all here, we should go in."

As if on cue, every ship produced a plank and placed it between their own ship and another.

"In?" Elizabeth asked Barbossa, eyeing the woods all around. "In where?"

"Aye, in," he answered unhelpfully. "Follow Jack."

Elizabeth obeyed him.

Where there had been nervous, excited chatter before there was now a tense hush. The atmosphere crackled with it as Jack led the way nimbly over the planking despite his head wound.

"Jack is the fourth pirate lord?" Elizabeth whispered to Barbossa as they crossed the deck of yet another foreign ship.

"Aye," Barbossa muttered. "One from each corner o' the world." He seemed reluctant to speak aloud for whatever reason, almost apprehensive.

Elizabeth left the silence as it was until, walking along a well-worn path in the woods, they came upon a building, and she turned around and said, "That's…it?"

Barbossa nodded, his eyes fixed upon the building. "Built by Morgan and Bartholomew 'emselves. Very respected by all pirates."

The structure had a heavy darkness, a certain foreboding about it that was intimidating to those who had not seen it before. That was the most grandeur the building had about it. Elizabeth started at it in slight confusion. Definitely not big enough to house the entire crowd of pirates, she decided. No arches; no turrets; no sculptures of women or ships; nothing but a rough, worn carving of a skill and crossbones above the doorframe to identify the building for what it was.

And yet there was a certain reverence about the pirates, as Barbossa had said; not only those who passed through the door, but even those who stayed outside for the sake of space.

Barbossa was allowed inside because he was a captain, Will and Elizabeth because of his and Jack's allowance. The rest of the crew remained outside to exchange tales and brags with the pirates from other countries.

Jack and Barbossa doffed their hats and then replaced them as they passed beneath the doorframe. Will and Elizabeth touched their foreheads uncertainly out of respect for the pirates' customs.

Inside the building was a large room. A table with four ornate chairs was at the room's head. Below it was a longer, rougher table with wooden chairs all around it. Two rows of benches were around the perimeter of the room. It was once of these benches that Will and Elizabeth sat on, staying together only so that they could easily find Jack and Barbossa at the end of the meeting.

Barbossa headed for the long wooden table and sat at one end. Sao Feng, Vaunesse, Jack, and the short man who wore a bejeweled turban appropriately walked, swaggered, waddled, and strode confidently to the high table.

When everyone was seated, every bench and chair in the room was filled, and some pirates were even scattered around on the floor.

The four pirate lords stood. The hum of talk died away.

"Welcome, Brethren," Sao Feng announced in a slight accent. He paused to look around at all of the pirates.

"Never did I imagine that I would witness such a gathering in my time, though my title was handed to me by my father. I know that I didn't call this meeting, and so I merely welcome you all and ask the one who did to step forward and state his reasons."

Before Jack could speak, however, Vaunesse raised his voice. "I, also, never thought that I would witness a gathering such as this," he said in a thick Australian accent. "However, I never imagined that when such a gathering came that a woman would be in the Brethren's chambers."

All heads turned to Elizabeth, and there was an outbreak of disturbed muttering. Jack quickly spoke up.

"Miss Elizabeth Swann is present at my own invitation and for my own reasons," he said firmly. "She may be the cause of my death, but she was also the reason that I was saved from death. She also played a part in the reason for this meeting. I advise that none of you dogs dare hurt or touch her."

The man with the turban was nodding slowly, his eyes closed. Sao Feng spoke again.

"Good. As we are now aware of who called the meeting, may we find out why? Or was it merely for your entertainment, Captain Sparrow?"

Jack cast the Asian pirate lord a dark look.

"We called the meeting to give news and present a decision," he said in a clear, carrying voice. "Lord Bucket, I mean Beckett, of the East India Trading Company got his hands on the heart of Davy Jones. But," he added quickly, speaking loudly over the pirates' cries of outrage, "we'd made a deal with Jones: our lives for his heart. We managed to steal said item from Beckett's office."

Jack pause to allow the pirates a cheer. Then he went on.

"Jones still thinks that Beckett has the heart, and as long as he thinks that way, Beckett will let him believe it. We heart that whoever kills Jones must captain the _Dutchman_ for eternity. So the decision…is this: have one of the Brethren become captain of the _Flying Dutchman_, or find something else to do with the heart?"

The uproar at this was deafening.

"SHUT UP, THE LOT O' YE!" Barbossa thundered over it all. "'SNOT GETTIN' US NOWHERE!"

The pirates all fell silent, giving Barbossa almost meek looks.

"Thank ye," Barbossa said, and sat.

"Thank you for your incredibly loud set of lungs, Captain Barbossa," Sao Feng said, raising an eyebrow. There was a flutter of nervous laughter throughout the room.

"Ye're quite welcome," Barbossa retorted. "Be happy it wasn' quiet when I decided to aid ye."

"We're all very thankful, Barbossa, as I could her 'HAAUUL OON THE MAIN BRACE! MAKE READY THE GONS!' from the brig on the _Pearl_," Jack commented with a small smile.

More quiet, scattered laughter. Barbossa sniffed. "Might we get back t' what I was bellowin' about in the first?"

"Good point," Jack said. "Well, us four'll present our opinions, I suppose. Then a few others'll come up and make an argument for one point or another. You can't just come up and say your point of view and sit down, you'll get your say so in the voting. Sao Feng, you first."

Sao Feng clasped his hands, unclasped them, closed his eyes, and fiddled with his beard before he spoke. "The best course of action would be to have one of the four of us captain the _Dutchman_," he said, almost hesitant. "This way there would be a ruler of the seas that understood the needs of the Brethren."

This short statement done, he nodded to the short man in the turban, who gave a quick nod in return.

"We should hide ze heart zomewhere and use it to control Jones," he declared in a surprisingly high voice. "Ve vill know zat he vill deal wiz his crew appropriately. Also, ve vould haf no means of being sure zat ze one of us vill not turn on ze Brethren, because ve vill haf no heart to control him."

He shifted his attention to Vaunesse. The Australian pirate lord was hard to predict: he often seemed soft-spoken, but could turn violent when the need arose. "I agree with Kretzvblak's opinion," he said shortly. "Captain Sparrow?"

Jack closed his eyes in thought, frowning. It seemed to Elizabeth that he was swaying lightly, but took it as a trick of the light. He opened his eyes, still frowning, and touched his bandage briefly.

"I say we select the most trustworthy one of us four to captain the _Dutchman_. It would be useful to have a pirate lord that ruled the seas and was unable to be hanged or manipulated by the Company."

Jack sat, though the other three were still standing.

"Captain Sparrow!" one of the men at the same table as Barbossa called. "What'd you do ta your 'ead, addle your brains ev'n mo'?"

"That, my friend, is no business of yours," Jack said coldly. "Have an opinion on the matter, Van Blipley? Care to share it with us?"

"Van Bletley, Sparrow," the man spat. "I say we control Jones with the heart."

"Oh?" Jack said. "And why's that? 'Cause it's the opposite of what I said?"

"Yes, that's why, now may we bloody move on?" Barbossa said irritably. "Like a bloody pair of housewives gibbering away at their poor husbands, you are…"

"Thank you once again, Captain Barbossa. Now, any that wish to share an argument may step forward," said Vaunesse.

Nearly the whole long table of pirates stepped to the front, including Barbossa and Van Bletley. Elizabeth almost laughed aloud at the expression of disgust and exasperation on Jack's face.

Although Jack had expressly told them not to, many of the pirates merely stated their opinion and sat back down. He finally pulled out his pistol and threatened to shoot the lips off the next person to do so. About half hastily went back to their seats.

After what seemed like days, it was time for the voting. Jack stood up on his chair to count, murmured the numbers to Vaunesse, and sat. The numbers were passed from Vaunesse to Kretzvblak and from him to Sao Feng, who nodded. He announced, "The heart of Davy Jones will be hidden, and the Brethren will control him this way."

For some reason, all eyes focused in on Jack. Confused whispers erupted quietly around the room. Jack was leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed and a small grimace across his face. His eyes opened. He seemed surprised at the stares.

"What're _you _looking at?" he demanded of one shy-looking pirate. The pirate gulped and quickly looked away, provoking laughter from the room once more.

"Why we still 'ere? Decision's been made," Jack continued, suddenly seeming eager to leave.

"Where will we put it?" one of the captains shouted.

"We'll find that out once we're actually sure we'll be alive to hide it," Jack answered. "Go on, all of you get out of 'ere, shoo." He rose and swayed down the room. The rest of the pirates followed him with great noise and chatter, again doffing and donning hats at the door.

Will and Elizabeth wound their way through the throng to Barbossa.

"Why's Jack suddenly wanting to leave?" Will asked.

"He don't think they made the right decision," Barbossa said. "An' his head hurts, I can tell."

"Don't you think those stitches should come out?" Elizabeth said.

"I reckon they should sometime soon," Barbossa answered unconcernedly.

"When?"

"When he rips 'em out in frustration instead of 'is hair."

"Really, Barbossa."

"Tomorrow. Happy?"

"Quite," Elizabeth said, satisfied.


	11. Jack makes a point

A/N: don't worry, I have an excuse this time too. A) my grandparents are moving out so I've had to help with the packing. How enjoyable. :\ B) I haven't been writing a lot because my dad's friend's brother just got into a car accident, and I've been worried, but I tried to get it up for you guys as soon as I could. So enjoy.

DISCLAIMER: hi, this is the disclaimer the author was supposed to put up. I'm not available right now, please leave a message after the beep.

Chapter 10

"YOU'RE STUPID!" Will heard Jack bellowing from inside the cabin. There was a snarl he took to be Barbossa, a curse from Jack, and then, "WHY'S THE BLOODY RUM BLOODY GONE?"

Will paused halfway through cutting a rope, one corner of his mouth quirked in amusement. Then he winced when he heard a loud crack and Elizabeth's shout of "Barbossa!"

He heard footsteps and hurriedly heaved the barrel overboard Elizabeth came out, rolling her eyes. "Barbossa's just knocked him out with a candle holder," she informed Will. He laughed and moved to black the view of the barrel, but it was too late.

"What's that barrel doing in the water?" Elizabeth asked.

"What?" Will said stupidly. "Oh, there's a barrel in the water? Someone must've dropped it…looking for rum."

Elizabeth wrinkled her brow and gave him a skeptical look. Will gave her one of complete innocence.

"_What_?"

"You're lying to me," she stated calmly.

"No I'm -"

"William Turner, I have known you for eleven years. You're lying. Why is there a barrel in the water, and with a little red flag on it nonetheless?"

Will looked down and fiddled with his earring. Elizabeth sighed.

"More? Fine. Who are you leaving a trail for?" she asked.

"Who said I was leaving a trail for anyone?"

"Will, you're leading Beckett right to us. Do you _want _to die?"

"Beckett has Jones," Will said finally. Elizabeth continued to stare at him.

"And…"

"And Jones has my father," he said.

"And to get to your father you need to stab the heart so that you can free him, thus becoming the next captain of the _Flying Dutchman_," she concluded. "I see."

They stared at each other for a minute.

"I'm no less trustworthy than you," Will said.

"That doesn't mean what you're doing is entirely right. You would sacrifice everyone on this ship – me, Jack, Barbossa, Gibbs, Cotton, everyone – to save one person, even if he is your father. That's mad."

"No, Elizabeth," he said. "What's mad is that you would lead me to believe that you love me when you really love Jack."

"Will, please listen. I do love you. Let me work it out first…"

"'Let me work it out first,'" Will mocked angrily. "'I love you, but I love Jack. It's all right, Will, I won't go out with Jack for tonight. Listen to me, Will. Will, please-'"

"Will, I know…"

"Elizabeth."

Both of them looked over at Jack.

"Barbossa made _me_ tell you," he muttered, casting a dark look back at the cabin.

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes.

"Tell me what?"

"That, ah, thing I'm about to tell you."

"Which is?"

"Ah." Jack scratched his head. "I met someone, eh, interesting shall we say, at World's End."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow.

"Get to the point."

"You knew him," Jack said unhelpfully. "Oh, for God's sake, this is stupid! _You_ tell her!" he yelled at the cabin. When no answer came, he muttered something incoherent and continued.

"Er. He had a jacket. And it was green. And he had shoes. Black ones. And a wig. A, ah, curly one….And it was…er…gray…and…long…" Jack trailed off. "I'm not very good at this, am I?" he mumbled.

Elizabeth let out a choked laugh and sat down against the railing. "No, you're not," she told her knees.

"He seemed at…at peace, sort of…and, er, sends his…love…bugger…" Jack trailed off to a whisper and swore quietly. Then, to Elizabeth's surprise, he sat down too and put a cautious arm around her shoulders. "Sorry….I'm not worth a buggery at this…."

Elizabeth didn't seem to care. "Did he say what happened?" she asked, still talking to her knees.

"He also told me not to say."

"Did he look worse or better?"

"Than what?"

"Than you did."

"Um…." Jack looked over at the trapdoor leading to the forecastle and almost started whistling. Elizabeth put her head up.

"Jack, please tell me. You could just…nod or shake."

Jack gave his head a tiny shake.

Elizabeth instinctively leaned into his coat for comfort. He stiffened slightly, then relaxed, and then stiffened again when she started to cry. _Don't be stupid, _he thought to himself. _Oh, too late. Never mind. Stupid Jack. Pay attention for Pete's sake._

"Elizabeth," he said quietly. "Stand up." He did so himself, pulling her up with him.

"Look down."

Elizabeth obeyed and found herself staring at the ivory-capped waves moving beneath the ship with bleary eyes. She fixed herself on the rolling, predictable yet unpredictable movement of the water.

"Funny, isn't it?" Jack murmured. "Funny how peaceful constant movement is when it's not you doing the moving." He fell silent and gazed out at the water, keeping his arm awkwardly around Elizabeth's shoulders while she quivered.

It _was _oddly calming to watch, Elizabeth thought; you wanted to know where it would go next, but it wasn't something that needed to be concentrated on. The eye naturally followed the movement with little or no direction from the brain, and yet Elizabeth found herself totally engrossed in it.

Jack stared out at the waves as well, but not to detach himself completely, as was Elizabeth's intention; not this time. No, he was deep in thought, or rather whirling through the thoughts as though they were a crowd of strangers, a feeling he was not quite sure he was fond of.

Forgiveness was definitely out of the question.

That was the first coherent thing that flashed through his consciousness. Oh, he definitely wanted to forgive her, in some small, insane part of his mind. The rest of his brain urged him to be eternally furious with her for being the cause of his death, for leading him along by the nose when he thought he had been tugging her by the hand behind him. His jaw tightened at the very thought.

But a mental prod relaxed him slightly, gave him a new sort of outlook on the situation.

Jack flinched. He couldn't help it.

Quickly, he tried to banish the thought, but it lingered near the forefront of his mind and taunted him, not matter how hard he pushed against it. His jaw tightened again, the muscles rippling with anger.

No.

He squashed the notion down to the bottom of his mind until he could practically hear it squeal for mercy. Only the sound of his name being murmured made Jack look up from the water.

"Can you ever forgive me?" Elizabeth was whispering with a catch in her voice.

Jack sighed heavily. He should have known that this was coming. Dropping his hand somewhat hesitantly from her shoulder, he shifted his weight to the other foot.

"Elizabeth, you don't need me to forgive you," he said finally.

Elizabeth folded her arms over her rib cage as though afraid it would shatter if she let go.

"But I do," she said.

Jack shook his head slowly, frowning.

"No," he said. "You don't. I can't do it now," he added, cutting off her disbelieving response. "I can't. Leave it lie."

He might have stayed as a source of comfort had Elizabeth followed his directions, had she not flung her arms around him, apologizing over and over again. Jack, unable to bring himself to peel her off, threw Will a pleading look. Right on cue, Will came over and gently pulled her arms from around Jack, who promptly walked away.

Barbossa was still lounging in the cabin with his feet up on the table and looked surprised when Jack stormed in.

"_You_," he growled, pointing at Barbossa with one shaking finger. "_Never _make me do that again. _Ever_."

Barbossa laughed softly.

"Aye, aye, Cap'n," he said sarcastically. "Since when did _ye _start givin' _me _orders?"

"Oh, that was _before you mutinied on me_," Jack said angrily.

"Let's not get into this now, hmm?" Barbossa said, sounding weary.

"No, let's!" Jack said. "Technically, I should be captain now!"

"Technically, _I _be captain, seein' as _ye _were dead, and seein' as _ye _killed _me _and _I _was the only one as knew how t' find ye," Barbossa reasoned.

"Technically, _I _wouldn't have killed _you _if _you _hadn't mutinied in the first place. And technically, I wouldn't have been able to die because _I _would have taken the gold too, and so I wouldn't have died and _you _wouldn't need to save me!" Jack said triumphantly.

"Technically, none of that ever happened." Barbossa studied his fingernails. "Hmm. They're nearly as long as bloody Sao Feng's. Should prob'ly think of cuttin' 'em."

"We're talking about how _technically _I should be captain, not exactly what happened," Jack said. "And yes, they are a bit grungy."

They continued well into the night, dissecting every movement and word during the mutiny and Barbossa's death. In the end, Jack won out, but Barbossa still refused him captaincy. Jack pouted.

A/N: Bit of a talky chapter, but the big action is coming soon, I promise:) leave me some love, my lovelies. Please :D


	12. Jack hides an injury

A/N: …It starts.

That is all I have to say. :)

DISCLAIMER: If I owned them Barbossa would probably be teaching me how to sword fight right now. Seeing as he isn't, I don't own them.

Chapter 12

Elizabeth found Will in his cabin.

"Will, what are you doing?" she asked urgently. "The _Dutchman_ and the _Endeavor_ are on our stern and gaining! We'll have to fight them!"

Will looked up.

"I'm going to stab the heart," he said in a cold voice. "I don't need to fight."

"Will, stabbing the heart won't free your father," Elizabeth said desperately. "You'll become his captor. You'll be the one imprisoning him instead -"

"And being his captor gives me the freedom to release him," Will said as though he had been through this with himself.

"And then be bound to the _Dutchman_ forever more!"

"I know." He sighed.

Elizabeth's face grew more serious.

"It's a steep price to be paid, Will," she said.

"I know."

She flung her arms around his neck.

"Don't do it, Will, please!" she pleaded. "I won't be able to stand it!"

Will sighed again.

"I won't do it now," he said finally. "I'll fight."

Elizabeth smiled and gave him a swift kiss before leading him up to topdeck. As soon as her foot touched the fading sunlight on the deck, Barbossa called out, "FIRE!"

As the cannons worked themselves up into a frenzy, both Will and Elizabeth grabbed muskets and aimed at the _Endeavor_ on the starboard side. It had been a while since Elizabeth had fired one and the recoil surprised her slightly. She did not remember it being so hard and painful. Nevertheless, she started to reprime the musket, ignoring what she was sure would be an incredibly large bruise soon.

"Elizabeth!" Will exclaimed. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Elizabeth told him, firing again.

"Your shoulder is bleeding," he pointed out.

"I'm fine," she repeated firmly. In a matter of seconds, she had felled another two soldiers, and Will was loading the musket for his own second.

"I'm going to help with the _Dutchman_!" Elizabeth yelled. "Keep going!"

Will nodded and sent another soldier flying into the water.

Elizabeth pushed her way to the other side of the deck and rand into Gibbs.

"Any more ideas, lass?" he asked, grinning.

"Still your turn!" she shouted back.

"Shoot 'em all! That sound good?" Gibbs said.

Elizabeth laughed, took aim, and sent an eel-headed member of Davy Jones's crew into the water.

"Good shot," Barbossa said, aiming his own musket. He sent the bullet zinging off the head of one of them and into another, killing them both.

"You're the better," Elizabeth commented, bringing to gun to her shoulder again. To her surprise, it came down bloody.

"Ye've been shot?" Barbossa asked loudly, nodding at her wound.

"Probably," Elizabeth answered indifferently. "Don't worry about it!" Instinctively, she looked around for Jack and saw him slip off below deck. _What on earth could he be doing down there?_ She wondered. She voiced her thoughts aloud to Barbossa.

"Probably run out of powder!" he said. "I wouldn' worry about it!"

All of a sudden, there was a sharp pain in her chest. A second bullet had caught her, this time meeting its mark. Elizabeth fell to the deck. Barbossa looked back and swore.

"WILLIAM TURNER!" he bellowed, dropping down next to her. He tore off part of her sleeve to use as a bandage while Will fought his way over.

"Elizabeth!" he cried.

Elizabeth looked up at him, breathing hard.

"Will."

Will knelt beside her, and she could see tears starting in his eyes.

And suddenly she knew why Jack had gone below deck.

With a huge effort, Elizabeth scrambled to her feet.

"Don't wait for me," she said, and ran to the trapdoor in a kind of half crouch, clutching her chest. She heaved the door open and managed to get down the first set of stairs still standing. At the second set, she went down at more of a slither, gasping for breath.

"Jack!" she rasped. "_Jack_!"

Jack turned around.

"Elizabeth, what happened?" he asked.

Elizabeth didn't bother to answer his question.

"Let me come with you," she begged. "Let me come with you."

"Come with me?" Jack said, working his face into a nonplussed expression. "Come with me where?"

"You're going to stab the heart," Elizabeth said hoarsely, quivering and sinking to her knees. "Let me do it with you….We'll be on the _Dutchman_ together…."

Jack's face worked furiously as though he was fighting himself. One side quickly won, and he knelt and hugger into himself.

"Elizabeth, no," he said.

"I'll die, then," Elizabeth said, resting her head wearily on his shoulder. "I've been shot. I don't have much time left…."

Jack hesitantly lifted her chin.

"Don't tell me that."

"I can't help it, Jack…it's the truth." Elizabeth's voice was already weaker.

Jack's lips were suddenly on hers, desperate.

"Don't tell me that!" he murmured.

"It's this or the _Dutchman_," Elizabeth whispered. "I'll…leave it to you."

Jack grimaced in indecision and propped her limp form against the wall.

"I thought you needed my forgiveness. Because it's still not something I'm willing to give."

"No," Elizabeth said weakly. "I don't….As long as it's…in the past…I don't need you to forgive me. I…don't want you to forgive me."

Jack closed his eyes tightly, still grimacing.

"I don't know," he muttered wildly, still looking at her. "The Brethren Court will have to deal with it. I've made my decision."

As he reached for the heart, Elizabeth saw dark liquid shining on his arm. She shifted.

"You're hurt too…."

"Not bad," Jack said hastily, covering the copious amounts of blood issuing from his arm. "Here."

His warm hand covered Elizabeth's, closing her fingers on the knife.

"Ready?"

"Jack," she moaned. "Do it quickly."

Jack raised the knife.

"Elizabeth, no!" Will's voice shouted.

It was too late. Both Jack and Elizabeth felt the sickening squish and tear of muscle beneath the knife as it drove into Davy Jones's heart.

Somewhere amid the crowd on the _Flying Dutchman_, the captain clutched his chest, his beard curling and twisting in agony.

"Sparrow!" he managed to choke out.

And Davy Jones fell over the side of the ship and into the churning red water, never to be seen again.

A/N: any of you who have seen AWE: there is my twist. That's how I thought it should have happened but of course I am a JE shipper. :) review, tell me what you think! I may get some new ideas, I am going to see AWE for the 4th time tomorrow. Otherwise this is almost done.


	13. Jack and Elizabeth let go of the knife

A/N: odd-ish sorta chappie. Enjoy yourselves.

DISCLAIMER: shut up.

Chapter 13

As soon as he managed to tear away from Barbossa, Will sprinted after Elizabeth, who had disappeared down the trapdoor already. He thundered down both flights of stairs and skidded to a stop.

In the dim light of a lantern, he could make out Jack kneeling beside Elizabeth. He reached for something, which he placed between the two of them, and held Elizabeth's fingers to a knife.

"Jack," Will heard her say weakly. "Do it quickly."

Only then did Will realize what they were about to do.

"Elizabeth, no!" he blurted out.

The knife swung down and made contact.

A blast of wind tore through the trap door, which Will had left open, and rushed around the small space. Will looked on in horror as together they let out a pained gasp, for "they" was the only way that the two of them could be described, and then, in perfect unison toppled gently to the ground. They trembled and released their death hold on the knife.

Together they lay on the floor in a ball and shuddered.

Still frozen with horror, all Will could do was stand and watch as the wind whipped his ponytail out.

And then, still at the same time, their eyes opened slowly, fixed intently on Will.

… … …

There was a quick gash of pain as the knife tore into Jones's heart. They slid to the floor and let go of the bone handle before curling up, shivering. They did not know why they shivered; they only knew that they were doing so.

A sudden new strength flooded them, and they opened their eyes, staring straight ahead. In their first movement that was not in unison, Jack rose to his feet and then helped Elizabeth up. Looking down at themselves, they were happy to realize that the wounds that they had sustained were now nothing more than bloodstains on their shirts.

They smiled and stepped towards the stairs.

… … …

Will gasped as they stood up and looked down at the drying blood on their shirts.

He couldn't help but stare.

Their features had softened so that they were rounded instead of angular. As Will looked them over, he could find nothing that was pointed; all corners were rounded.

And they were _beautiful_.

The soft nature of their features made them seem to flow rather than move, their actions as fluid as the waves themselves. To Will, they seemed to radiate an unearthly, blue-green glow, obvious though it was dim.

Elizabeth walked over to him, her movements graceful almost beyond belief.

"You expected a pair of Davy Joneses," she smiled in a musical voice.

It was all Will could do to jerk his head up and down a few times.

"This is what he was before he stopped fulfilling his charge. All the people at World's End…they are the ones that died at sea. They should be on the other side. That was his duty, and because he shirked, he turned into a monster."

She paused and looked back at Jack. He came over too, his walk still somewhat swaggering but more lithe and feline. It seemed to be and odd combination, but, of course, it was perfect.

"Elizabeth," he murmured, his voice unchanged. "Come on."

Elizabeth smiled one last time and ran one cool, slender finger along Will's jaw before allowing Jack to lead her away.

… … …

On the _Flying Dutchman_, Jack and Elizabeth watched in satisfaction while sea life crumbled away from the crew and onto the deck Jack looked over at one man by the rail who was peeling a starfish from the side of his face.

"Bootstrap!" he called in disbelief. "Bill Turner!"

Bootstrap turned around.

"Jack!" he grinned.

The two caught each other in a quick one-armed hug.

"What now, Cap'n?" Bootstrap said.

Jack smiled, his newly softened features spreading gracefully.

"Cease fire," he said. "We're helping _The End_ now. The _Endeavour_ is our enemy."

Bootstrap repeated the orders to the bo'sun, who started bellowing at the rest of the crew. The _Flying Dutchman_ was soon around the other side of the _Endeavour_.

Jack looked at Elizabeth.

"FIRE!" Elizabeth screamed.

Immediately the _Dutchman_'s cannons tore into the _Endeavour_'s port side. Taken completely by surprise, the most that the Trading Company ship could do was try to preserve their own lives.

"Nothing personal!" Jack called to Beckett across the gap, his face the picture of furious satisfaction. "It's just good business!"

The two of them looked at each other, locked by stares of bitter, mortal hate.

The _Endeavour_ blew apart completely. Masts fell into the water with bodies laid on their sails. Beckett was engulfed in a gout of flame and thrown violently backwards. With nothing left but its torn and battered deck, the Trading Company ship tipped its stern up and sank.

The crews of the two remaining ships let out a thunderous cheer and tossed up their respective hats and bandannas into the air.

Amidst the din, Jack turned to Bootstrap.

"You're free to go," he said.

"I've nowhere to go, Jack," Bootstrap said, shaking his head. "Anyway, I've still a debt to you for the mutiny."

Jack waved this off.

"I'm sure you'll find someone you owe more to on _The End_," he hinted with a smirk.

"You're kidding," Bootstrap said in disbelief. "Will? He's alive?"

"Yep," Jack said. "Go on. You've got a happy reunion to participate in."

Bootstrap looked at Elizabeth, who was suddenly at Jack's side.

"You're Elizabeth," he said.

Elizabeth nodded.

"Will spoke of you," Bootstrap continued, smiling lopsidedly. "You're every bit as beautiful as he said."

"Thank you," Elizabeth said modestly. "He spoke of you as well. You're every bit as kind as he said."

"Ha," Bootstrap said. With that, he nodded at the two of them and made his way over to _The End_.

"I suppose we should go too," Elizabeth said.

"Aye."

… … …

Over on _The End_, Jack and Elizabeth met with Barbossa. The old pirate captain did not seem surprised in the least.

"Ye stabbed the heart," he said, smirking. "Jack. The things ye do for eternal life."

"If that was all I wanted, I would've gone to the Aqua de Vida, mate," Jack said.

Barbossa raised an eyebrow.

"The what now? I don' speak Greek."

"Sao Feng's got the charts for it," Jack said. "The Fountain of Youth."

A/N: the Fountain of Youth! GASP! Will Barbie go for it? Most likely. Sooo, there'll probably be one more chapter, 2 at the most, and then an epilogue, and then the end. Tell me what you think! -glare-


	14. The scenery improves

A/N: last chapter folks! And then the epilogue. I'm almost at 100 for this story too, whoever is the 100th reviewer receives an e-cookie. Well, you all do, but bribes work. Sometimes XD so tell me what you think…I think it is ok I am not all that sure though.

DISCLAIMER: Disney never ends it like I want them to, so I don't own them, otherwise AWE would be sparrabeth. Ha.

Chapter 14

Jack and Elizabeth stood and watched the sun progress across the sky. As it was showing its final blazes of orange and red, Elizabeth spoke.

"Jack, just before we stabbed the heart…"

Jack cut her off.

"I know."

Elizabeth took a breath in.

"What I'm trying to say, I guess, is…do you…" she left her sentence unfinished.

Jack turned to her.

"Yes."

"Me too," Elizabeth said, smiling.

Mist was gathering on the horizon in front of the orange sun. The _Dutchman_'s crew, now made up completely of men instead of fish, adjusted the sails, which were white instead of green with seaweed. The joint captains exchanged a look.

"On the oars!" Jack yelled at the crew.

Elizabeth glanced around the ship. She could see Beckett angrily tying off a rope. Norrington was directing those at the capstan with authority, his sodden wig already thrown away. Gillette was scaling a mast by the ratlines. Elizabeth even recognized a few pirates from the crew of _The End_. With a sigh, she made her way over to Norrington.

"James," she said softly.

Norrington looked around sharply.

"Elizabeth!" he exclaimed. "Very nice to see you."

"Yes," Elizabeth agreed reluctantly, "but not here."

"What did you expect when the _Endeavour_ exploded?" he asked, shrugging in a resigned sort of way. "Either way, it is nice to see Beckett actually working."

"'Tis," Jack put in from the side. "Nice turnaround."

Beckett shot the pirate a dark glare before returning to his work.

Jack, Norrington, and Elizabeth laughed as the _Flying Dutchman_ soared through the Gates, plowing waves abreast of her hull. The ship and its occupants disappeared in a flash of green and were doused in a burst of white light. The next thing that they saw was a beach sanded black, surrounded by beautiful clear water.

In awe, the entire ship stared.

"I should die at sea more often," one of the soldiers from the _Endeavour_ commented.

Jack smiled grimly.

"This, my friends, is where we must part ways," he said solemnly. "On a lighter note, I hope you enjoyed your trip. Come again soon!"

Elizabeth buried her head in his chest and stifled a giggle. Then she looked up.

"Goodbye, James," she said quietly.

Norrington pulled her into a stiff hug.

"Goodbye, Elizabeth."

The souls of the dead trooped across the _Dutchman_'s decks in silence.

"Norrie!" Jack called suddenly.

Norrington sighed and looked back.

"Mate, I want you to know I _did_ think of this when I contemplated all possible meanings of the phrase 'silent as the grave.'"

Norrington smiled at him. Then he turned and followed Beckett from the ship.

Elizabeth let out another sigh.

"Eternity's a long time, Elizabeth," Jack said wearily, voicing both her thoughts and his own.

She stayed silent.

"The days, weeks, months, years, decades'll go by, aye…but they're not going to stop. Eternity."

"Eternity," Elizabeth echoed, the words already laden with burdensome time. "It's already going slowly."

"I'm almost regretting letting you stab the heart with me. I didn't want to condemn you to this forever. It's a long time," Jack repeated.

Elizabeth reached up, plucked off his hat, and placed it on her own head, grinning like a mischievous child all the while.

"I know it is," she said. "I didn't want you to spend it alone. That would be boring."

"True," Jack agreed. "As I said before, the company is infinitely better than last time." He paused. "And the scenery has…_definitely _improved."

"Has it?" Elizabeth asked.

Her smile softened. Jack was close…very close. So close, in fact, that he had only been this close once before. Elizabeth closed most of the distance.

"Exactly how much have the scenery and company improved?"

Leaning forward with a grin, Jack said, "Oh, _quite_ a bit."

Elizabeth's eyes fluttered. She fumbled for words.

"Oh," she said finally.

Smiling even more widely, Jack leaned forward the last few inches. Electricity sparked between the two pirates.

A green flash lit up the horizon.

A/N: yay Jack and Lizzie! Um. So just the epilogue left, I've got it all written and all I have left to do is type it. Enjoy…review!!


	15. Epilogue

A/N: FINALLY the epilogue! Sorry it took so long, folks. This is probably the best chapter of the entire story. I am in love with it. Enjoy and review, this is the final installment!

DISCLAIMER: PotC still belongs to Disney…although I really would like to own Barbossa… -evil smile-

Epilogue

Barbossa took one bore look at the map and rolled it up. According to the charts, if they were to be trusted, _The End_'s destination was straight ahead. Hopefully this was the right island. Barbossa had gone through no end of trouble to get this particular map from the pirate lord of Singapore.

"Drop anchor, ye dogs, we're here!" he ordered, more cheerful than he had been in years.

A longboat was dropped into the water. Barbossa chose four of the crew to go with him.

"Turner, Turner, Cotton, Gibbs, in th' longboat!" he yelled over his shoulder. "An' bring the bottles."

Each of the men carried four empty bottles save for Cotton, whose parrot clutched an extra in its beak. Barbossa waited impatiently while they settled onto seats and then rowed to the island, where he took out the charts once more.

"Accordin' to this, it be right…there…?"

Will tilted his head. "That's it?" he said.

Barbossa looked down at the map again. "Aye, that be it….But the map's tellin' us it's not what it seems, aye?"

He strode over to the large boulder and traced a finger down it. Then he smiled and pushed. A hole opened by way of a seam in the rock and Barbossa and the others stepped through.

Barbossa drew in a breath. "Aye, it's here," he murmured. He stepped forward and fell. There was barely enough time for half a curse to fly before he hit with a smack that took the breath out of him, which was unfortunate, as he had just gone under water.

Spluttering, Barbossa breached the surface.

"Cap'n?" came Bootstrap's voice.

Barbossa bobbed for a moment and then started to laugh. "Jump!" he shouted through his laughter. "Jump, lads! We've found it!"

Whoops of joy filled the chamber as the four remaining on the ledge jumped into the clear water. While the rest landed with loud, echoing splashes, Barbossa took a long, deep drink of the water. It was not at all what he had expected; it tasted faintly of fruit.

"Drink!" he gasped out.

There was a pause.

"It tastes like rum!" Gibbs announced.

"Ye drink too much of the stuff, Gibbs, it tastes like water," Bootstrap corrected.

"Bloody Mary!" Cotton's parrot squawked. "Bloody Mary!"

"Nay, it tastes like an apple," Barbossa countered them all.

Will cleared his throat and stayed quiet.

"Fill the bottles, boys, and we'll be outta here," Barbossa said.

The five of them clambered out of the hole in the rock and into the light.

Barbossa now looked to be twenty-five or thirty, all of the gray highlights gone from his hair, and Bootstrap seemed to be the around the same age. Gibbs looked about forty, and Cotton seemed around that spot as well.

The four looked at Will and started to laugh.

"Shut up!" Will yelled. He slapped a hand over his mouth in shock. The others stopped laughing. Then Barbossa smirked.

"Yer voice just cracked, boy," he pointed out. "Turner, how old is 'e?"

"Looks around fifteen," Bootstrap supplied.

"Thank you, Father," Will grumbled, stalking off.

"Seems to be going through his teenage angst stage again," Bootstrap said in a conspiratorial voice.

The four adults burst into laughter once more.

Fin

A/N: and so it ends. Thanks to everyone who stuck with the story and gave me such lovely reviews. E-cookies for all! You guys are the best. Special thanks to Captain Uschi, whyistherumgone, Perfect Pirate Captain, Lil' Pirate Lass, dextriin, missrisa77, Skystrike26, and Beautiful x lie, my faithful reviewers :)


End file.
